Rescuers scoured flooded riverbanks littered with mangled trees Saturday and turned over rocks in the search for more than two dozen children from a girls’ camp and many others missing after a wall of water blasted down a river in the Texas Hill Country. The storm killed at least 37 people across the state, including 14 children.
Some 36 hours after the floods, authorities still have not said how many people were missing beyond 27 children from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered.
The destructive fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the Guadalupe River in just 45 minutes before daybreak Friday, washing away homes and vehicles. The danger was not over as torrential rains continued pounding communities outside San Antonio on Saturday and flash flood warnings and watches remained in effect.
Searchers used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed that authorities will be relentless in rescuing and recovering victims. “We will find every one of them,” he said.
The number of victims climbed as more rain continued around Austin and a massive search continued in the nearby Hill Country. At least three people died and 10 others were missing in Travis County, home to the state’s capital.
Two people died in Burnet County, where a firefighter was among the missing after he was swept away by floodwaters while responding to a rescue, the county Emergency Management Coordinator Derek Marchio said.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said the bodies of 32 people had been recovered so far in the devastated Hill Country: 18 adults and 14 children.
Authorities were coming under growing scrutiny over whether the camps and residents in places long vulnerable to flooding received proper warning and whether enough preparations were made.
The hills along the Guadalupe River in central Texas are dotted with century-old youth camps and campgrounds where generations of families have come to swim and enjoy the outdoors. The area is especially popular around the July Fourth holiday, making it more difficult to know how many are missing.
“We don’t even want to begin to estimate at this time,” City Manager Dalton Rice said Saturday morning.
Raging storm hit camp in middle of the night
“The camp was completely destroyed,” said Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers. “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”
A raging storm fueled by incredible amounts of moisture woke up her cabin just after midnight Friday, and when rescuers arrived, they tied a rope for the girls to hold as they walked across a bridge with water whipping around their legs, she said.
Frantic parents and families posted photos of missing loved ones and pleas for information.
On Saturday, the camp was mostly deserted. Helicopters roared above as a few people looked at the damage, including a pickup truck tossed onto its side and a building missing its entire front wall.
Among those confirmed dead were an 8-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was staying at Camp Mystic, and the director o