At least 15 children dead and dozens still missing from girls camp after flash flooding sweeps Texas
4 July 2025, 22:10 | Updated: 6 July 2025, 06:16
At least 15 children have been confirmed dead while the 27 remain missing after heavy rain led to flash flooding across areas of Texas.
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The death toll for the floods is at least 51, including 15 children according to officials.
They say 27 girls are still missing after flash flooding tore through a Christian girls camp in the Texas area of central Kerr county.
Numbers will continue amid the search efforts, officials have said.
Chief Nim Kidd told reporters he has teams searching the entire river for people.
"That process is going to keep going, we're not going to stop until we find everyone," he sai.
Worried parents continue to post to social media after as much as 10 inches (25 centimetres) of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight on Independence Day in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe river, which rose 26 feet in 45 minutes overnight.
Among the girls still missing are Virginia Hollis; Annie Flack; Hadley Crossman; Cile Steward; Wynne Naylor; Linnie McCown; Mary Grace Baker; Molly DeWitt; Sarah Marsh; Anna Margaret Bellows; and Blakely McCrory.
With communications disrupted, many desperate parents are still trying to discover the whereabouts of their children, with one camp attendee, 9-year-old Renee Smajstrla, now tragically confirmed dead.
Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in the county, confirmed fatalities from the flooding and dozens of water rescues so far, with US President Donald Trump calling the tragedy "shocking" and "terrible".
Mr Kelly said he was advised not to cite specific numbers and said authorities are still working to identify those whose lives were lost.
"Most of them, we don't know who they are," he said during a news conference.
"One of them was completely naked, he didn't have any ID on him at all. We're trying to get the identity of these folks, but we don't have it yet."
Officials conducted dozens of rescues, and the emergency response continued as an unknown number or people remained unaccounted for, Mr Kelly said.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said rescue agencies had 14 choppers, 12 drones, nine rescue teams, and swimmers in the water.
As of Friday night at least 237 had been rescued, Texas Maj Gen Thomas Suelzer said.
A flood watch issued on Thursday afternoon estimated isolated amounts up to seven inches (17 centimetres) of rising water.
That shifted to a flood warning for at least 30,000 people overnight.
When asked about the suddenness of the flash flooding overnight, Mr Kelly said "we do not have a warning system" and that "we didn't know this flood was coming", even as local reporters pointed to the warnings and pushed him for answers about why more precautions were not taken.
"Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming," he said. "We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States."
Texas governor Greg Abbott said the state was providing resources to Hill Country communities dealing with the flooding, including in Kerrville, Ingram and Hunt.
"I urge Texans to heed guidance from state and local officials and monitor local forecasts to avoid driving into flooded areas," Mr Abbott said in a statement.
The Guadalupe's river gauge at the unincorporated community of Hunt, where the river forks, recorded a 22 foot rise (6.7 metres) in just about two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Austin/San Antonio office.
Mr Fogarty said the gauge failed after recording a level of 29 and a half feet (nine metres).
"We think the river's higher than that," Mr Fogarty said. "The gauge is completely underwater.
"This is the kind of thing that will catch you unaware. The water's moving so fast, you're not going to recognise how bad it is until it's on top of you."
