At least 24 people have been confirmed to be dead and about 23 to 25 are missing following a flash flood in the US state of Texas on Friday. The Guadalupe River rose up to 26 feet in less than two hours early morning due to the torrential rain. About 25 cm of rain poured down overnight in central Kerr County. The river gauge recording flood water stopped working after recording nearly 30 feet.
The 25 people who have gone missing are from a Christian Girls’ camp called Camp Mystic where roughly 750 girls attend. The parents are still waiting for news of the girls and seeing help online and at reunification centres, according to AP.
Authorities have said that they had been in contact with 18 camps alongside the river and Camp mystic was the only one with people still unaccounted for according to CNN. Texas Lt Gov. Dan Patrick said that search crews were doing “whatever we can do to find everyone we can.”
According to reports, emergency workers had rescued more than than 230 people so far alongside the river. Around 400 people helped with the rescue on ground along with nine rescue teams, 14 helicopters and 12 drones.
The area that was flooded is known as “flash flood alley” due to the thin layer of soil and the high intensity rainfalls that are common in the region due to moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.
The forecast had issued a flood watch which was later updated to a warning during early morning hours to about 30,000 residents in the area. According to Nim Kidd the chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the national Weather Service advisory that was issued the day before the flood “did not predict the amount of rain that we saw,” while speaking to the New York Times.
US President Donald Trump called the flooding “terrible” and pledged federal support to reporters aboard Air Force One.