At Least 95 Dead in Kerr County, Texas, After Devastating Flash Floods

At least 95 people have died in Kerr County, Texas, following catastrophic flash floods that struck south-central Texas on Friday, claiming 119 lives across the state, officials have confirmed.

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha reported that more than 150 people remain missing in the county as of Wednesday morning, including five campers and a counsellor from Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls summer camp situated along the Guadalupe River. Among the deceased in Kerr County are at least 36 children and 59 adults, Sheriff Leitha said during a news conference.

Search and rescue operations continue, with authorities deploying heavy equipment to clear debris in the affected areas, police said. In the initial hour of the flooding on Friday, emergency responders evacuated over 100 homes and rescued more than 200 people, according to Jonathan Lamb, community services officer for the Kerrville Police Department (KPD). “Folks, I don’t know how many lives our KPD team saved in an hour in Kerrville, but I know that this tragedy, as horrific as it is, could have been so much worse,” Mr Lamb said. Christian Fell, a resident of Hunt, Texas, recounted his harrowing escape to the BBC. Early Friday morning, he was woken by floodwaters entering his home. “I opened my kitchen door, and a huge wall of water came toward me,” he said. Unable to close the door against the force of the water, he retreated further into his house, where furniture was floating. Mr Fell climbed through a window, swam to a meter box outside, and stood there for three hours until he was spotted by a police officer. “I was clinging to the side of the house, just praying the water would stop,” he added. He noted that no weather alerts reached him until water was already inside his home. At Camp Mystic, counselors Maria Paula Zarate and Silvana Garza Valdez described the chaos as the Guadalupe River rose rapidly. “It was a storm like I had never experienced before in my life,” Ms Garza Valdez said. The camp’s waterfront was eroded by mud and debris, and some counselors broke down in tears as Army trucks arrived to evacuate them. Ms Zarate observed furniture from nearby camps floating in the swollen river. “I felt like I was in a dream,” Ms Garza Valdez added. Questions have been raised about the adequacy of flood warnings and the timing of evacuations. Texas Governor Greg Abbott acknowledged that a storm warning had been issued, but authorities were unaware of the storm’s severity. Experts attribute the disaster to a combination of extreme weather, the location of holiday homes, and the timing of the floods.