At least 13 dead in Texas following flash floods

The Associated Press

· Posted: Jul 04, 2025 5:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Months worthy of dense rainfall fell successful a substance of hours on south-central Texas, sidesplitting astatine slightest 13 radical and leaving much than 20 girls attending a summertime campy unaccounted for Friday arsenic hunt teams conducted vessel and chopper rescues successful the fast-moving flood water.

Desperate pleas peppered societal media arsenic loved ones sought immoderate accusation disposable astir radical caught successful the flooding.

Texas Lt.-Gov. Dan Patrick said determination betwixt six and 10 bodies had been recovered truthful acold successful the frantic hunt for victims. Meanwhile, during a quality league conducted astatine the aforesaid time, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha reported 13 deaths from the flooding.

As overmuch arsenic 25 centimetres of dense rainfall poured down successful conscionable a fewer hours overnight successful cardinal Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River and starring to hopeless pleas for accusation astir the missing.

"Some are adults, some are children," Patrick said. "Again, we don't cognize wherever those bodies came from."

Teams conducted dozens of rescues, and the exigency effect continued to hunt for the missing, including the summertime campy attendees. 

"I'm asking the radical of Texas, bash immoderate superior praying this afternoon. On-your-knees benignant of praying, that we find these young girls," Patrick said.

Judge Rob Kelly, the main elected authoritative successful Kerr County, confirmed fatalities from the flooding and dozens of h2o rescues truthful far. He said helium was advised not to mention circumstantial numbers and said authorities are inactive moving to place the dead.

"Most of them, we don't cognize who they are," helium said during a quality conference.

Water coming successful done walls

Erin Burgess's location sits straight crossed from the stream successful the Bumble Bee Hills neighbourhood, westbound of Ingram, successful Kerr County.

When she woke up to thunder astatine 3:30 a.m. section clip Friday, "it was raining beauteous heavy, but nary large deal," she said.

Just 20 minutes later, Burgess said h2o was coming successful done the walls and rushing done the beforehand and backmost doors. She described an agonizing hr clinging to a histrion and waiting for the h2o to recede capable that they were capable to locomotion up the elevation to a neighbour's.

"My lad and I floated to a histrion wherever we hung onto it, and my fellow and my canine floated away. He was mislaid for a while, but we recovered them," she said, becoming emotional.

Of her 19-year-old son, Burgess said, "Thankfully he's implicit six feet tall. That's the lone happening that saved me, was hanging connected to him."

A flood ticker issued Thursday day estimated isolated amounts up to 17 centimetres of rising water. That shifted to a flood informing for astatine slightest 30,000 radical overnight.

When asked astir the suddenness of the flash flooding, Kelly said "we bash not person a informing system" and that "we didn't cognize this flood was coming," adjacent arsenic section reporters pointed to the warnings and pushed him for answers astir wherefore much precautions weren't taken.

'No 1 knew this ... was coming'

"Rest assured, nary 1 knew this benignant of flood was coming," helium said. "We person floods each the time. This is the astir unsafe stream vale successful the United States."

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the authorities was providing resources to communities dealing with the flooding.

The affected region, a scenic and rocky country known arsenic Texas Hill Country, begins westbound of the authorities superior and is simply a fashionable outdoor summertime getaway. Parts of the portion are prone to flash flooding.