Updated July 5, 2025 at 3:53 PM EDT
At least 27 people are dead following flooding that slammed Texas Hill Country early Friday morning, according to state officials. The deceased include 18 adults and nine children, some of whom remain unidentified.
At a Christian summer camp next to the Guadalupe River, 27 girls remain missing. Officials said some of those campers may be stranded and unable to call for help.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said during a news conference Friday night that the state is committing all the necessary resources to continue with a search and rescue mission, including members of the Texas National Guard and state troopers.
The governor issued a disaster declaration for several counties in the state's area known as the Hill Country, about 70 miles north of San Antonio.
Abbott said search and rescue missions will continue "in the darkness of the night … seeking for anybody who is not accounted for." He added: "This is a 24/7 effort."
.@USCG is punching through storms to evacuate Americans from central Texas.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) July 4, 2025
We will fly throughout the night and as long as possible.
This is what the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard do. pic.twitter.com/2vOgkS5Hun
Officials say 859 people have been rescued so far, and many of them were rescued by helicopters. Texas officials say some of the areas affected remain without power or internet access.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said in a Saturday morning news conference that rescue efforts were ongoing, but he could not give a timeline of how long it would take to recover everyone affected by the flood.
"This community is strong and will continue to pull together," Leitha said. "We will not stop until every single person is found ... I can't tell you how long it's going to take. It'll take a while."
At an earlier briefing, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said more than 500 responders and 14 helicopters were deployed to find anyone who is trapped in the inundated area.
"We have deployed a number of personnel to multiple locations throughout the Texas Hill Country to assist with search and rescue efforts," Patrick said, noting that the region is popular for summer camps, including one for hundreds of girls. He said state efforts' emphasis Friday is to locate unaccounted teenagers.
"Within 45 minutes, the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet and it was a destructive flood — taking property and sadly lives," Patrick said. He added that the region got 12 inches or more of rain per hour.
The situation may still get worse. Leitha said authorities believe the number of fatalities could grow.
"This is probably going to be a couple of days' process," Leitha said during the earlier press conference.
At an elementary school in Kerrville, which served as a reunification center, hundreds of people waited for news from their relatives. Some parents were able to meet with their children, but some have yet to hear from their kids.
That's the case of Tanya Powell. Her 21-year-old daughter Ella Rose was still missing. "She was near the camp at a house with three of their friends, they are college seniors in San Antonio. They were here for the weekend and we lost touch with them about 4 a.m. and haven't gotten any word from them," Powell said.
One of the summer camps affected, Camp Mystic, is an all-girls Christian summer camp that has been operating in the area for nearly 100 years.
Angela Trafton's granddaughter was attending camp when rain began pouring during the night. The girl survived, but Trafton was left shaken by the ordeal.
"We're so grateful," she said, barely able to speak through her tears. "This is her seventh year [as a camper]. I don't know that she'll ever come back now."
On Friday, the National Weather Service issued a hazard weather warning. In a statement, the NWS warned, "Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible." The agency said an additional 1 to 3 inches of rain could fall across the region, but that "isolated spots in the Hill Country could see up to 5 inches."
The NWS explained the extreme rainfall is being caused by a moist tropical air mass combined with a slow moving storm system in counties across south central Texas.
KSAT News meteorologist Sarah Spivey in San Antonio said that the "rain bomb" the area is currently experiencing is typical in the aftermath of years-long droughts like those in the affected counties.
"You know, we're in a multi-year drought here in this area, and if you've been in this area long enough, you know even in 1987 there was a flood very similar to the one that is happening right now," Spivey told NPR Saturday morning. "Our droughts tend to end with these rain bombs in the summer months, and it's just something that we have to prepare for over and over again in the future."
Spivey also pointed to the terrain of the region, which is more susceptible to flood damage.
"It's called the Hill Country for a reason. Winding hills and a river, Guadalupe River, that runs through these hills onto limestone, so there's not much area for the water to soak into," she said.
Kerr County officials said the Guadalupe River, which runs through the region, is currently cresting at 39 feet or more — up from about 3 feet before the rainfall.
Judge Rob Kelly signed a declaration of disaster, following the devastation to property and loss of life left behind by the severe weather storm.
"Suffice it today this has been a very devastating and deadly flood," Kelly said during a Friday morning press conference.
Kelly's office said damages will be monumental to both public infrastructure and private properties, with estimates impossible to determine until floodwaters recede.
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