About 27 people, including nine children, have died after flash floods swept through central Texas, authorities said, as rescuers continued a frantic search for survivors, including dozens missing from a girls' summer camp.
The Kerr County, Texas, Sheriff's Office said more than 800 people were evacuated from the region as waters receded from the area around the Guadalupe River, about 137 miles (XNUMX kilometers) northwest of San Antonio, Reuters reported.
At least 23 to 25 people from the "Mystic" summer camp are missing, most of them reportedly young girls. The water level in the river has risen sharply by about 8,8 meters near the camp.
The US National Weather Service said an emergency flood warning had been largely lifted for Kerr County, the epicenter of the flooding, after storms brought up to 30 centimetres of rain early Friday morning.
However, a flood warning remains in effect for the San Antonio–Austin region, with occasional rainfall expected throughout the day, said Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist.
US President Donald Trump said the federal government is working with state and local authorities in responding to the flooding.
"Melania and I are praying for all the families affected by this terrible tragedy. Our brave first responders are on the ground doing what they do best," Trump wrote on social media.
Dalton Rice, city manager of Kerrville, the county seat, told reporters Friday that extreme flooding hit the area before dawn, with almost no warning, making it impossible to issue timely evacuation orders as the Guadalupe River quickly rose above critical levels.
"This happened very quickly, in a very short time frame that could not have been predicted, even by radar," Rice said. "It all happened in less than two hours."
State emergency officials warned as early as Thursday that west and central Texas would be hit by heavy rainfall and possible flash flooding "over the next several days," citing National Weather Service forecasts ahead of the weekend.
Still, weather forecasts "didn't predict the amount of rain we got," V. Nim Kid, director of the Texas Emergency Management Agency, said at a news conference Friday night.
The disaster was reminiscent of a catastrophic flood nearly 40 years ago along the Guadalupe River, when a bus and van from a church camp encountered floodwaters and 10 teenagers drowned trying to escape, according to a National Weather Service report on the 1987 storm event. Hundreds of people were also evacuated then, the report said.
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