At least 13 people have lost their lives and more than 20 young girls have gone missing after flash floods swept through parts of Texas, according to local authorities.
The floods hit suddenly after thunderstorms and torrential rain caused the Guadalupe River to rise quickly, trapping people in homes, camps, and on roads in south-central Texas. Many of the missing were at a summer camp when the water rushed in before dawn.
The US National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency for parts of Kerr County, located in south-central Texas Hill Country, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of San Antonio, following heavy downpours measuring up to a foot of rain.
Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerville, the county seat, told reporters the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing any evacuation orders.
“This happened very quickly, over a very short period of time that could not be predicted, even with the radar,” Rice said. “This happened within less than a two-hour span.”
The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office reported 13 people were found dead in “catastrophic flooding” in the area.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick told a late-afternoon news conference that authorities were searching for 23 girls listed as unaccounted for among more than 700 children who were at a summer camp when it was swept by floodwaters at around 4am local time.
Most of the campers were safe, authorities said, but they could not immediately be evacuated because roads were made impassable by high waters.
“Everybody is doing everything in their power to get these kids out,” Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the top elected local official, said at a news briefing on the disaster hours earlier.
He said scattered residential subdivisions, recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds were hardest hit.
Patrick said the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet (8 m) in 45 minutes amid heavy downpours deluging the region. Search teams were flying 14 helicopters and a dozen drones over the area, in addition to hundreds of emergency personnel on the ground conducting rescues from trees and swift-flowing water.
“Additional rain is forecast in those areas,” Patrick said. “Even if the rain is light, more flooding can occur in those areas. There is an ongoing threat for possible flash flooding from San Antonio to Waco for the next 24 to 48 hours in addition to the continued risks in west and central Texas.”
Personnel from the US Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were activated to assist local authorities in confronting the crisis, officials said.
