Texas floods newest: Search for lacking continues after dozens killed together with youngsters
A desperate search for dozens of campers including children continued into Sunday, after devastating floods killed at least 51 in Texas.
Four girls missing from a summer camp were found dead and were among at least 15 children killed in what Texas GOP Congressman Chip Roy called a “once-in-a-century flood.”
More than 850 people from around the region have been rescued or evacuated, officials said Saturday.
Two girls — 13-year-old Blair and 11-year-old Brooke — were among those killed by the floods, their father told CNN on Saturday night. Harber said Blair “was a gifted student and had a generous, kind heart,” and described Brooke as “like a light in any room, people gravitated to her”.
There are also 27 girls still missing from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River that was ravaged by the floods, officials said. At least four girls who attended Camp Mystic have been confirmed dead, according to reports, marking a tragic end to a day-long search.
The unexpected flash flooding struck on Friday after torrential rain along the Guadalupe River. The destructive force of the fast-rising waters just before dawn on Friday washed out homes and swept away vehicles.
Helicopters and drones used in frantic search
Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice on Saturday gave an update on the status of the rescue efforts.
Search crews were facing harsh conditions while “looking in every possible location,” Rice said.
Officials said more than 850 people had been rescued in the last 36 hours and there were heroic efforts at the camps to save children.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem arrived and pledged that the Trump administration would use all available resources. Coast Guard helicopters and planes were assisting to ensure operations can continue even in darkness.
One reunification center at an elementary school was mostly quiet after taking in hundreds of evacuees the day before.
“We still have people coming here looking for their loved ones. We’ve had a little success, but not much,” said Bobby Templeton, superintendent of Ingram Independent School District.
Girl ‘living her best life’ at camp and man who saved his family. Everything we know so far about Texas flooding victims
Here’s what we know about the victims:
Watch: Texas flood victim clinging to tree is airlifted out of danger in dramatic rescue
What happened when the floods first broke out?
An initial flood watch — which generally urges residents to be weather-aware — was issued by the local National Weather Service office at 1:18 p.m. Thursday.
It predicted between 5 to 7 inches (12.7 to 17.8 centimeters) of rain. Weather messaging from the office, urged people to move to higher ground and evacuate flood-prone areas in the early hours of Friday morning, said Jason Runyen, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service office.
At 4:03 a.m., the office issued an urgent warning that raised the potential of catastrophic damage and a severe threat to human life.
Jonathan Porter, the chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, a private weather forecasting company that uses National Weather Service data, said it appeared evacuations and other proactive measures could have been undertaken to reduce the risk of fatalities.
“People, businesses, and governments should take action based on Flash Flood Warnings that are issued, regardless of the rainfall amounts that have occurred or are forecast,” Porter said in a statement.
How the Texas Hill Country flood went from small water flow to deadly tide in a matter of hours
Most of the missing were attending Camp Mystic, a popular summer camp along the Guadalupe River.
What began as a routine flood watch quickly turned into a deadly disaster. The National Weather Service predicted between 1 and 3 inches of rain, with some isolated spots possibly getting 5 to 7 inches. Instead, parts of Kerr County were slammed with 10 to 15 inches, and in some places, over 20 inches, within a few hours.
Read more from Erin Keller:
Better warning systems needed as ‘intense’ storms will continue in future, says expert
An expert in climate change impact has called for the government to develop better early-warning systems for intense storms.
The flash flooding in Texas was caused by torrential rain, but the flooding was not forecasted by weather authorities.
Here is what Professor Hayley Fowler, Professor of Climate Change Impacts, Newcastle University, said:
The devastating flooding in Texas yet again underlines the need for better early warning systems for these very intense storms with rapidly evolving flash flooding.
Several of these events have caused significant loss of life over the last few years, and with climate warming we can expect more of these very intense, highly organised, storms.
The warmer atmosphere and oceans fuel these storms, making them last longer, with more rainfall.
As a society we are going to have to adapt to more of these events. We will need to learn how to respond to warnings, and how to safely evacuate before the flash flood.
It will not be possible to make all of our infrastructure resilient to these catastrophically large floods, and we can expect to experience many more of these.
Texas officials prioritizing search and rescue
Texas officials are prioritizing search and rescue efforts, Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said on Saturday evening.
“We’re really focused on life safety,” he said. “Our primary focus is on search and rescue of every single person involved, and we’ll continue through the night to make sure that happens.”
“We’re in a marathon, and we got to make sure we always think about that and look after each other,” he added.
Watch: Debris fills Guadalupe River after massive floods
Officials detail response after after ‘once-in-a-century flood’
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said he lives along the Guadalupe River: “Our properties were devastated.”
He saw body bags and seen firsthand the devastation from the floods. The judge added: “We know we get rains, we know the river rises. But nobody saw this coming.”
Texas GOP Congressman Chip Roy called the disaster a “once-in-a-century flood.”
Nim Kidd, Chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said his team refuses to quit searching until every missing person has been found: “We will not stop until we find every one of them.”
There are 1,300 additional personnel working on the response as well as 906 state assets, Kidd said.
Source: independent.co.uk
