Texas flooding newest: Desperate seek for women lacking from summer time camp after 24 killed

First Lady Melania Trump issued a statement in the wake of the devastating floods that have claimed 24 lives and have left at least two dozen children missing.

“My heart goes out to the parents in Texas during this difficult time. I am holding you in my thoughts and sending prayers for strength, comfort, and resilience,” she wrote in a social media post Saturday morning.

More than 230 people have been rescued as of Friday night after catastrophic floods rampaged the region, state officials have said.

The forecast “did not predict the amount of rain that we saw,” Nim Kidd, the chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said at a press conference Friday. The National Weather Service data predicted three to six inches of rain, he said.

Officials confirmed 24 fatalities, but did not provide names. The search continues for the more than 20 campers who have gone missing.

Floods have devastated Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls summer camp where at least two dozen campers have gone missing.

The camp is 99 years old and is located in west-central Texas on the banks of the Guadalupe River.

According to the camp’s website, campers try to meet the “Mystic ideals,” which are to “be a better person for being at Mystic”, “let Mystic bring out the best in them,” and to “grow spiritually.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a disaster declaration Friday night, allowing search and rescue efforts to continue overnight across 15 counties.

“I am working in coordination with the state’s emergency response team on the significant flooding that occurred in the Hill Country and Concho Valley regions in the early hours of this morning,” Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick said in a Friday night statement.

“The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office has reported catastrophic flooding in the area, with several people missing and confirmed loss of life. Additional rain is forecast in those areas. 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,” he warned.

President Donald Trump called the flooding “terrible.” He signaled federal aid was on the way: “We’re working with the governor. We’re working with the governor. It’s a terrible thing.”

At a reunification center set up in Ingram, families cried and cheered as loved ones got off vehicles loaded with evacuees, Reuters reports.

Two soldiers carried an older woman who could not get down a ladder. Behind her, a woman in a soiled T-shirt and shorts clutched a small white dog.

Later, a girl in a white “Camp Mystic” T-shirt and white socks stood in a puddle, sobbing in her mother’s arms.

Barry Adelman, 54, said water pushed everyone in his three-story house into the attic, including his 94-year-old grandmother and 9-year-old grandson. The water started coming through the attic floor before finally receding.

“I was horrified,” he said. “I was having to look at my grandson in the face and tell him everything was going to be OK, but inside I was scared to death.”

The area where the flooding took place is known as “flash flood alley” because of the hills’ thin layer of soil, said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was collecting donations to help nonprofits responding to the disaster.

“When it rains, water doesn’t soak into the soil,” Dickson said. “It rushes down the hill.”

River tourism industry is a key part of the Hill Country economy. Well-known, century-old summer camps bring in kids from all over the country, Dickson said.

“It’s generally a very tranquil river with really beautiful clear blue water that people have been attracted to for generations,” Dickson said.

Texas parents frantically posted photos of their young daughters on social media with pleas for information as they remain missing after flash flooding.

More than 20 campers from an all-girls summer camp were unaccounted for Friday after floods tore through the state’s south-central region.

At least 24 people were reported dead Friday and dozens missing after months worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours on Texas Hill Country, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said.

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Up to 25 girls are believed to be missing from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp.

Hundreds of rescuers have been drafted in to desperately search for the girls, who were swept away by a wall of water after it surged the flood zone.

On social media, parents and families posted desperate pleas for information about loved ones caught in the flood zone.

“The camp was completely destroyed,” said Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers at Camp Mystic. “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”

She said a raging storm woke up her cabin around 1:30 a.m. Friday, and when rescuers arrived, they tied a rope for the girls to hold as the children in her cabin walked across bridge with floodwaters whipping around the calves and knees.