Camp Mystic confirms 27 campers and counsellors killed
Some 27 campers and counsellors are dead after flooding at Camp Mystic, a statement from the camp said.
“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly,” the camp wrote in a statement on their website.
It went on:
We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls.
We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from community, first responders, and officials at every level.
We ask for your continued prayers, respect and privacy for each of our families affected. May the Lord continue to wrap His presence around all of us.
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The Texas agriculture commissioner has said there has been no time to even begin calculating the damage done to the region’s agriculture industry during the floods, with more than 40 people still unaccounted for.
Sid Miller told Fox News that cattle and livestock have been found “on the tops of trees” following the deadly flooding, which he said had “caught everybody off guard”.
We’ve lost hundreds of miles of fencing, barns, all kinds of buildings, structures.
We are still so focused on search and rescue of the over 40 people that are still unaccounted for, that we haven’t even had time to start calculating about the agriculture loss.
But it’s been devastating. It’s a 26ft wall of water, 3am in the morning … caught everybody off guard.
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Tavia Hunt, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, has confirmed that one of the victims of the devastating Texas floods was a member of their family, nine-year-old Janie Hunt.
Janie, a young cousin in the family, was one of the girls at Camp Mystic, the popular summer camp perched on the banks of the Guadalupe River that has become a focus of the search after suffering significant damage in the deluge.
In an Instagram post, Tavia Hunt wrote:
Our hearts are broken by the devastation from the floods in Wimberley and the tragic loss of so many lives – including a precious little Hunt cousin, along with several friend’s little girls.
How do we trust a God who is supposed to be good, all knowing and all powerful, but who allows such terrible things to happen – even to children?
Janie, a great-granddaughter of the oil baron William Herbert Hunt, is reportedly the eldest of three children. Camp Mystic said in a statement earlier today that 27 campers and counselors died in the catastrophic flooding.
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Residents of Kerr County began clearing mud and salvaging what they could from their demolished properties as they recounted harrowing escapes from rapidly rising floodwaters late Friday.
Reagan Brown said his parents, in their 80s, managed to escape uphill as water inundated their home in the town of Hunt.
When the couple learned that their 92-year-old neighbour was trapped in her attic, they went back and rescued her.
“Then they were able to reach their toolshed up higher ground, and neighbors throughout the early morning began to show up at their toolshed, and they all rode it out together,” Brown said.
Search and Rescue teams continue working around the clock following flash flooding on the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, Texas, USA, 06 July 2025. Photograph: Dustin Safranek/EPAShare
Updated at 09.07 EDT
Here is a map, which shows the layout of Camp Mystic in Texas and its proximity to the Guadalupe river…
Map of Camp Mystic, TexasMap of Camp Mystic, TexasShare
Edward Helmore
As Texas marshals a formidable response to the flash floods that have already killed dozens, questions are now being posed about warnings that were given on Thursday and early Friday about the severity of the approaching storm and the co-ordination between local officials and the National Weather Service.
New flood alerts were issued for Texas “hill country” on Sunday, prompting rescue services to suspend the search for missing people, including at least 11 from Camp Mystic, the summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River hard hit by Friday’s flash flood.
At an early evening press briefing, Kerr county authorities said they were suspending the search and evacuating first responders from the river valley. They confirmed that 68 had died there, including 28 children. Not all have been identified, with officials still examining the bodies of 18 adults and 10 children.
Extraordinary tales of resilience have also emerged alongside videos of the destruction and loss that are circulating on social media. On Sunday, a video was posted on X of girls from Camp Mystic being evacuated from the camp and singing the hymns Pass It On and Amazing Grace as they crossed a bridge over the still torrential Guadalupe River.
The new round of rainfall in the area prompted an alert of a “dangerous and life-threatening situation”, it said, adding: “Do not attempt to travel unless unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.”
The co-ordination between Kerr county officials and the National Weather Service has become a flashpoint of its own.
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Camp Mystic confirms 27 campers and counsellors killed
Some 27 campers and counsellors are dead after flooding at Camp Mystic, a statement from the camp said.
“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly,” the camp wrote in a statement on their website.
It went on:
We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls.
We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from community, first responders, and officials at every level.
We ask for your continued prayers, respect and privacy for each of our families affected. May the Lord continue to wrap His presence around all of us.
Share
Here are some of the latest images of the devastation caused by the tragic flash flooding in Texas…
Construction equipment is seen caught in the Guadalupe River in the aftermath of deadly flooding in Kerrville, Texas on July 6, 2025. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesDebris is seen in the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas on July 6, 2025. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesOnly foundations remain where homes washed away in the flood once stood, in Hunt, Texas, USA, 6 July 2025. Photograph: Dustin Safranek/EPAVolunteers search for flood victims after deadly flooding in Kerr County, Texas. Photograph: Sergio Flores/ReutersShare
People have recounted their ordeal after deadly flooding swept through central Texas on Friday morning…
‘Really scary’: people in Texas describe devastating floods – videoShare
President Donald Trump, who said on Sunday he would visit the disaster scene, probably this coming Friday, has previously outlined plans to scale back the federal government’s role in responding to natural disasters, leaving states to shoulder more of the burden themselves.
Some experts questioned whether cuts to the federal workforce by the Trump administration, including to the agency that oversees the National Weather Service, led to a failure by officials to accurately predict the severity of the floods and issue appropriate warnings ahead of the storm, Reuters reported.
Trump’s administration has overseen thousands of job cuts from the National Weather Service’s parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving many weather offices understaffed, former NOAA director Rick Spinrad said.
Ahead of Friday’s floods, the Weather Service office near San Antonio, which oversees warnings issued in Kerr County, had one key vacancy – a warning coordination meteorologist, who is responsible for working with emergency managers and the public to ensure people know what to do when a disaster strikes.
The person who served in that role for decades was among hundreds of Weather Service employees who accepted early retirement offers and left the agency at the end of April, media reported.
Trump pushed back when asked on Sunday if federal government cuts hobbled the disaster response or left key job vacancies at the Weather Service under Trump’s oversight.
“That water situation, that all is, and that was really the Biden setup,” he said referencing his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. “But I wouldn’t blame Biden for it, either. I would just say this is 100-year catastrophe.”
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As the death toll continues to rise after deadly flash flooding in central Texas, a frantic search is under way for missing campers, vacationers and residents.
Hunt resident Macon Ware’s five granddaughters had just finished a summer camping session at Camp Mystic, the all-girl camp where dozens of campers were swept away in the flood.
“Some of their friends were there for the second session and my heart goes out to all those little girls,” he says.
See the full video below…
‘It’s killing me’: Texas residents devastated by flood deaths in local summer camps – videoShare
Pope Leo extends condolences to Texas flood victims: ‘We pray for them’
Ramon Antonio Vargas
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday voiced his sympathies for the families whose lives have been upended by the flooding in Texas’s Hill Country, which left about 80 dead – many of them children – and others missing.
After reciting Angelus prayers at the Vatican, the American-born pontiff remarked in English: “I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in a summer camp in the disaster caused by flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas.
“We pray for them.”
The worldwide Roman Catholic church leader’s comments were notable in that they addressed what is the deadliest natural disaster in his home country since he became the first US-born pope ever in May.
They were also ecumenical in the sense that the girls’ summer camp to which he referred is a Christian – though not specifically Catholic – institution.
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Updated at 06.26 EDT
Search teams scour Texas flood zone for dozens still missing
Hello and welcome to the Texas floods live blog. I am Tom Ambrose and I’ll be bringing you the latest news lines over the next few hours.
Residents in central Texas were observing a day of prayer on Sunday for at least 82 people killed and dozens missing in Friday’s devastating flash flooding, as a search and rescue operation for survivors began to morph into a grim exercise of recovering bodies.
Relatives continued an anxious wait for news of 10 girls and one camp counselor still unaccounted for from a riverside summer camp that was overwhelmed by flash flooding from the Guadalupe River, which rose 26ft (8 meters) in 45 minutes on Friday morning after torrential pre-dawn rain north of San Antonio.
Kerr county’s sheriff, Larry Leitha, said at a briefing on Sunday afternoon that 68 people have been confirmed dead there, including 28 children, with the search continuing for the missing girls and their counselor from Camp Mystic, along the river.
Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, said in an earlier briefing that another 10 fatalities have been confirmed in neighboring counties. Abbott said that officials were still searching for 41 known missing persons across the state.
“We are seeing bodies recovered all over up and down,” Kerrville’s city manager, Dalton Rice, told reporters at an earlier briefing on Sunday. Authorities said about 850 people had been rescued, with more than 400 people involved in the search and rescue operation.
By Sunday morning, water levels had fallen to just a foot or two higher than before the flood. On Sunday afternoon, people in Kerrville received an emergency alert on their phone, reading: “High confidence of river flooding at North Folks of river. Move to higher ground.”
Further rain on Saturday and into Sunday morning hampered search efforts of crews using boats, helicopters and drones. Abbott promised responders would remain at the scene until every individual was recovered. He said he instructed responders to assume all missing persons were still alive.
Read our full report here:
Here are the latest headlines from Texas:
Ten other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, Associated Press cited local officials as saying.
Abbott said additional stretches of heavy rain lasting into Tuesday could produce more dangerous flooding, especially in places already saturated.
Relatives continued an anxious wait for news of 10 girls and one camp counsellor from the riverside Camp Mystic still unaccounted for after it was overwhelmed by flash flooding from the Guadalupe River, which rose 26ft (8 meters) in 45 minutes on Friday morning. Families were allowed to look around the camp from Sunday morning as nearby searches continued.
The Texas Division of Emergency Management chief said on Sunday he was receiving unconfirmed reports of “an additional wall of water” flowing down some of the creeks in the Guadalupe Rivershed as rain continued to fall on soil in the region already saturated from Friday’s rains. “We’re evacuating parts of the river right now because we are worried about another wall of river coming down in those areas,” Nim Kidd said.
Authorities faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in an area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made. Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice said there would be a full review of the emergency response.
President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration on Sunday for Kerr county and said he would likely visit on Friday, calling what took place “absolutely horrible”. Asked whether he was still planning to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), he said that was something “we can talk about later, but right now we are busy working”.
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