KERRVILLE, Texas – Months worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours on Texas Hill Country, killing at least 13 people and leaving more than 20 girls attending a summer camp unaccounted for Friday as search teams conducted boat and helicopter rescues in the fast-moving flood water.
Desperate pleas peppered social media as loved ones sought any information available about people caught in the flood zone.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said somewhere between 6 and 10 bodies had been found so far in the frantic search for victims. Meanwhile, during a news conference conducted at the same time as Patrick’s update, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha reported that there were 13 deaths from the flooding.
At least 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain poured down overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River and leading to desperate pleas for information about the missing.
“Some are adults, some are children,” Patrick said during a news conference. “Again, we don’t know where those bodies came from.”
Teams conducted dozens of rescues, and emergency responders continued to search for those who were unaccounted for. That includes more than 20 girls missing from summer camps.
“I’m asking the people of Texas, do some serious praying this afternoon. On-your-knees kind of praying, that we find these young girls,” Patrick said.
Comments on a Facebook post from the Kerr County sheriff’s office were riddled with photos of people in the flood zone. Loved ones posted there, hoping someone could offer an update on the whereabouts of those they hadn’t heard from. One woman said she couldn’t reach her daughter, who had rented a cabin in Hunt for her husband and two children, and pleaded for someone to post the names of those already evacuated.
Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in the county, confirmed fatalities from the flooding and dozens of water rescues so far. He said he was advised not to cite specific numbers and said authorities are still working to identify those whose lives were lost.
“Most of them, we don’t know who they are,” Kelly said during a news conference. “One of them was completely naked, he didn’t have any ID on him at all. We’re trying to get the identity of these folks, but we don’t have it yet.”
AP
