At least six people were killed and frantic searches were underway for the missing after heavy rain in Central Texas set off deadly flooding along the Guadalupe River on Friday, authorities said.
A summer camp for girls along the river in Hunt, Texas, told parents on Friday morning that not all of its campers were accounted for after “catastrophic” flooding overnight.
In nearby Kerrville, some people huddled inside a church’s activity center, and others looked distraught, shivering under blankets.
Lisa Walter, a spokeswoman for Kerr County, northwest of San Antonio, said the six fatalities confirmed Friday morning would grow. She declined to disclose further details until the victims’ relatives could be notified.
“Keep in mind, this event is only hours old,” she said. “It is still a very active, ever-changing situation.”
The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office encouraged residents “to shelter in place and not attempt travel. Those near creeks, streams and the Guadalupe River should immediately move to higher ground.”
The scope of the disaster was not immediately clear, but Texans on Friday were bracing for the worst. Camp Mystic, which has multiple campsites along the river, said it was working with search and rescue teams, but was struggling to get more help to campers since the nearby highway had washed away.
On social media, parents circulated photographs of several young girls who were unaccounted for, pleading for help locating them.
In Kerrville, Brian Eads, 52, was hoping for information about his wife, Katherine, after aggressive floodwaters ravaged their trailer at around 3:30 a.m.
“I have no idea if she’s made it,” Mr. Eads said. “We both got swept away, and then I lost her.”
The couple were awakened by rushing waters, and managed to escape with a man driving a recreational vehicle. But the water caught up with them about 20 feet away, Mr. Eads said, and the vehicle’s engine died. Both he and his wife were swept underwater. He tried to swim toward her voice, he said, but lost her when he was struck in the head by debris. He survived by holding onto a tree and making his way to dry land.
Throughout the region, torrential downpours prompted evacuation orders and water rescues as the churning river burst from its banks, rising at an alarming rate from seven feet at midnight in Hunt, Texas, to over 29 feet at 4 a.m., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The police in Kerrville said on social media that they were working with the Kerrville Fire Department to evacuate residents, noting that “many roads and streets are flooding in town.”
A Walmart store was being used as “a temporary reunification center” for people who had been displaced by the flooding, the Police Department said. The authorities urged people to stay out of flooded areas and to avoid driving through water. People were also advised not to call 911 for updates.
The flash flood warning covers a portion of west-central Texas, including Coke and Tom Green Counties, and was expected to remain in effect until 3 p.m. local time, the National Weather Service said.
Up to 15 inches of rain have fallen in some areas, according to the Weather Service. The rain and flooding were expected to continue for several hours, the agency said.
“Numerous roads remain closed due to flooding,” the Weather Service said. “Low-water crossings are inundated with water and may not be passable.”
The Weather Service in San Angelo, Texas, said it had “received multiple reports of flooded roads and homes across Tom Green County.”
“These conditions are life-threatening,” the agency said, warning people stay off the roads if possible.
The Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a statement that San Angelo was “experiencing major flooding” in at least one area of the city and that emergency workers were “responding to water rescues, structure fires and numerous 911 calls.”
The mayor of Kerrville, Joe Herring Jr., issued a disaster declaration on Friday morning.
Outside Ingram Elementary School, in Ingram, Texas, about seven miles west of Kerrville, people hoped to find missing loved ones, including girls who were staying at a camp nearby. Some hugged each other outside the main entrance, while others stood waiting to hear from their relative.
Randy Bush, 59, said he had not heard from his fiancée Charlotte Buff, 55, since last night. He had already been at a local Walmart, where others were searching for relatives.
“I have no idea what happened to her,” he said.
His fiancée lives at an RV park in the Kerrville area. As soon as he heard about the floods, he rushed to the park, but was stopped by road closures and emergency vehicles.
“When I was there this morning, they were doing water rescues with helicopters,” Mr. Bush said. “From what I saw that park was gone,” he added as he made his way to the school. “It was just all water. It didn’t look like there was anything there. That whole park was done.”
Parents of campers were hoping for the best Friday afternoon. Betty Gerlach, whose 14-year-old grandson is a camper at Camp La Junta, a boys camp about five miles along the river from Camp Mystic, said the boys camp had informed families that all campers were safe and fed. But an evacuation plan was still in development, and would not begin until at least 7 p.m. on Friday.
The camp asked families from out of state, Houston, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area to begin traveling to the area. But families in nearby Austin and San Antonio were told to “stay put for now,” to avoid overcrowding.
With several camp building washed away in the flooding, the campers had taken shelter in two small cabins while they waited for evacuation, Ms. Gerlach said.
By midafternoon, emergency crews had started to bring some of the stranded girls to Ingram Elementary. One man saw his daughter sitting in the passenger seat of an emergency vehicle and ran after it with a smile.
The city of Kerrville shared images on social media of the swollen Guadalupe River churning and swiftly moving under a bridge as traffic crawled across it cautiously. City officials urged those who live close to the water to move to higher ground immediately, and canceled its Fourth of July celebration.
The event, which bills itself as “Texas’ Largest Free Family Music Festival on 4th of July,” draws thousands of festivalgoers each year. In a statement posted on Instagram, festival organizers instead offered the Arcadia Live theater as a shelter.
For those old enough to have lived through it, the flooding on Friday surfaced memories of a deadly flooding event along the Guadalupe River in July 1987. The river rose 29 feet on the morning of July 17, sweeping away a school bus and a van that were carrying teenagers from a church camp southwest of Comfort, Texas, about 15 miles southeast of Kerrville.
Ten of the teenagers drowned; 33 others, and four adults, were rescued. Some who survived held onto the upper branches of cypress and pecan trees, praying until helicopters arrived to carry them to safety, The New York Times reported. At the time it was the worst flooding of the Guadalupe River in 55 years, The Times reported.
At a news conference on Friday morning, Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge, said this flooding might exceed that, based on the waterline at his property along the river.
“This far surpasses the ’87 flood,” he said.
Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.
Aimee Ortiz covers breaking news and other topics.
Edgar Sandoval covers Texas for The Times, with a focus on the Latino community and the border with Mexico. He is based in San Antonio.
Ruth Graham is a national reporter, based in Dallas, covering religion, faith and values for The Times.
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