Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The New York Times reports:
Search and rescue teams were working throughout the night in Central Texas after flooding that began early Friday swept through a summer camp and homes, killing at least 24 people and leaving as many as 25 girls missing from the camp.
The girls were at Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River in Hunt, in Kerr County, according to the county sheriff. Desperate parents posted photos of their children online, seeking any information, and others went to reunification centers to try to find missing loved ones. An unknown number of other people were also missing, Kerr County said in an update on Friday night, citing the sheriff, Larry Leitha.
The deadly flooding surprised many, including Texas officials, who said that some National Weather Service alerts had underestimated the risks. The most urgent alerts came in overnight, in the early hours of Friday. Hundreds of emergency personnel were searching for stranded people. The Texas National Guard made 237 rescues and evacuations using helicopters and rescue swimmers, Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Suelzer, the guard’s commander, said at a news conference Friday evening.
CNN reports:
Around two dozen girls from a private Christian summer camp were still unaccounted for Friday night. Camp Mystic is in Hunt, Texas, near the Guadalupe River, which has swelled to its second-highest level on record, according to the National Weather Service. Everyone at about 18 other camps along the river is accounted for, officials said.
Hundreds rescued: 237 people had been evacuated or rescued as of late Friday, according to Major General Thomas M. Suelzer with the Texas Military Department. More than two-thirds of those rescues were conducted by helicopter, Suelzer noted.
At least 14 helicopters, 12 drones and over 500 people from various units were rescuing adults and children – some out of trees – in Kerr County on Friday, and Gov. Greg Abbott says search and rescue teams will comb flooded areas “nonstop” Friday into Saturday.
The Texas Tribune reports:
Nim Kidd, the chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said local officials were caught off guard by the volume of rain, adding that the National Weather Service advisory issued Thursday “did not predict the amount of rain that we saw.”
In an earlier press conference Friday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the dead include adults and children, and some were found in cars “that were washed out upstream.” He said officials aren’t sure whether any of the bodies were children from Camp Mystic, and stressed that the campers are only considered missing at this point. Patrick added that San Antonio and Waco also could see flash flooding in the next 24 to 48 hours.
As much as 10 inches of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River. Patrick said the river, which winds through Kerr County in Central Texas, rose 26 feet in 45 minutes during torrential rains overnight.
Many on social media are blaming recent cuts by the Trump administration for the lack of warning.