Heavy rainfall caused the Guadalupe River in Texas to flood on Friday, prompting search teams to begin rescues and leading to reports of multiple fatalities.
Overnight, residents in central Kerr County witnessed as much as 10 inches of heavy rain within just a few hours. The rain caused the Guadalupe River to begin flooding, threatening the nearby river communities.
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“The state of Texas is surging all available resources to respond to the devastating flooding around the Kerr county area. That includes water rescue teams, sheltering centers, the National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety. The immediate priority is saving lives,” Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) posted Friday afternoon.
At a midday press conference, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said there were multiple casualties but would not provide any numbers until the 3 p.m. briefing.
The flooding affected summer camp areas along the river. Kelly advised parents with children at the camps to call the camps for more information, but he noted that an unknown number of children are missing from the summer camps.
A reporter at the press conference pressed Kelly about the number of children missing from the camp and why they had not been evacuated despite warnings.
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“We didn’t know this flood was coming. Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming,” Kelly said. “We had no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what’s happened here. None whatsoever.”
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch Thursday afternoon, with Kerr County being at high risk overnight. A flash flood emergency warning has been issued in Kerr County since 4 a.m. Central time.
This is a developing story.