KERR COUNTY, Texas – At least 161 people are still missing in Kerr County following deadly floods in the Hill Country, including five campers and one counselor from Camp Mystic, Gov. Greg Abbott said in a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Another child not associated with the camp is also missing, he said, and the number of missing could increase.
“We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for,” Abbott said.
Abbott said 94 people had been confirmed dead in Kerr and Kendall counties, and another 15 fatalities were reported statewide.
During the news conference, the Kendall County Office of Emergency Management announced on Facebook that another death had been confirmed there — marking 95 deaths total in the two counties.
Abbott reminded the public to report any people they believe to be missing by calling 830-258-1111 or visiting kerrvillemissing@dps.texas.gov. Reports should include name, last known location and any additional identification information.
Watch the full Tuesday afternoon press conference in the video player below:
Freeman Martin with the Texas Department of Public Safety said as many as 10 people are also missing in Travis County due to flooding in Central Texas.
Three people were reported missing after being swept away in Williamson County, and all three bodies had been recovered by Tuesday, according to Martin.
Thirty children were among the fatalities in Kerr County, Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a Tuesday morning press conference, and 19 adults and seven children remain unidentified.
Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. said the city was grateful for all in-kind donations, and the city was working on “a new system to accept donations.” Updates for those plans would be posted to the city’s Facebook page.
You can watch the Tuesday morning press conference in the video player below:
Lt. Col. Ben Baker with the Texas Game Wardens said close to 300 wardens have searched over 26 river miles as part of recovery efforts.
Baker said Texas Game Wardens have conducted 444 rescues and 30 recoveries.
Baker called the conditions first responders are dealing with, such as muddy terrain, “extremely challenging.”
“It’s extremely treacherous, time-consuming (and) it’s dirty work,” he said. “We’re having to go layer-by-layer peeling these off to make those recoveries.”
Leitha said officials would work to put together a timeline of their actions, from when the first alert was issued to when the river began flooding.
However, Leitha said it was not currently his priority; rather, he was focusing on locating those still missing and identifying their families as needed.
Jonathan Lamb, a community services officer with the Kerrville Police Department, said there was “substantial road damage” across the city.
Video captured by KSAT cameras, residents and campers showed a swollen Guadalupe River carrying debris, cars and even houses and cabins downstream, as the area received more than 10 inches of rain.
>> How to prevent infections and injuries during flood recovery in Hill Country
Radar estimates show that more rural places may have received up to 13 inches of rain, according to KSAT meteorologists.
Authorities were coming under scrutiny over whether the camps and residents in places long vulnerable to flooding received proper warning and whether enough preparations were made.
The hills along the Guadalupe River in Central Texas are dotted with century-old youth camps and campgrounds where generations of families have come to swim and enjoy the outdoors. The area is especially popular around the Fourth of July holiday, making it more difficult to know how many are missing.
As of Tuesday, here’s what we know.
State inspected Camp Mystic two days before deadly floods; camp had emergency plan
State officials verified that Camp Mystic had an emergency plan in place before the July 4 floods, according to records obtained Tuesday by KSAT Investigates.
Department of State Health and Human Services records show it inspected the camp along the Guadalupe River on July 2, two days before heavy rain flooded the Hill Country, killing more than 90 people.
>> State inspected Camp Mystic two days before deadly floods; camp had emergency plan
Records show there were 64 staff members and 386 campers at the Guadalupe portion of the campgrounds during that inspection.
Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, which runs independently of the Guadalupe River, had a combined 215 staffers and campers when inspectors visited the properties July 2.
Kerr County Commissioners had conversations about flood warning system
Minutes from a 2016 Kerr County Commissioners Court found that discussions on a flood warning system had been ongoing for several years.
>> Kerr County Commissioners had conversations about flood warning system almost a decade ago
An emergency management coordinator currently serving Kerr County discussed several existing flood warning resources present in the county, but indicated none were “really flood control or flood warning systems.”
The county had applied for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support the county’s goal of installing a system. Its application was not selected, according to an ABC News report.
Boil water notice for Canyon Lake-area residents
The Texas Water Company has issued a boil water notice for residents in the Canyon Lake area following severe flooding along the Guadalupe River.
The Texas Water Company said flooding caused an influx of debris and sediment into Canyon Lake. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality required the public water system, Canyon Lake Shores, to issue the notice, effective immediately.
The boil water notice currently affects a range of subdivisions in the Canyon Lake area. Click here for the latest.
Communications to the public, questions about total number of missing
Asked why evacuations were not put into place for campers along the north and south forks of the Guadalupe River, Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice called it “a delicate balance.”
“Because if you evacuate too late, you then risk putting buses or cars or vehicles or campers on roads (and) into low-water areas trying to get them out, which then could make it even more challenging,” Rice said. “These flash floods happen very quickly, as well.”
>> Timeline: When the warnings began for Kerr County before catastrophic flooding
Rice did not know if there was communication from law enforcement to any of the camps, such as Camp Mystic, along the river between 1 and 4 a.m. on Friday.
“Kerr County is a massive area; from here to those camps is 45 minutes on a good day,” Rice said. “A lot of those areas don’t even have cell service ... there’s a lot of areas, especially when weather comes in, where cellular towers are down or you already have bad service.”
Rice said officials did not have a solid number of missing people ready to share, but did know “it is a lot.”
Search and rescue efforts continue
State Highway 39 and Old Ingram Loop remain closed aside from first responders and residents living in the area, Rice said.
Multiple local, state and national first responders are expected to resume search and rescue efforts this week.
Search and rescue efforts continued Monday from Kerr County to Comal County, though crews were having to work in difficult terrain, Rice said.
More than 19 local, state and national organizations were assisting in the rescue efforts. Rice said the search area between the counties is being separated into grids for first responders to work in.
The Kerrville Public Utility Board (KPUB) was reporting continued power outages between Hunt and Ingram along the south fork of the Guadalupe River, according to Rice.
“KPUB has brought in additional utility personnel to help with restoration, but it’s not possible at this time (to know) when the power is going to be restored,” he said.
Herring Jr. said Monday that “this will be a rough week” for his community.
“Primary search continues, and we remain hopeful every foot, every mile (and) every bend of the river,” Herring said.
The mayor also asked prospective volunteers to contact the Salvation Army in Kerrville and register to avoid uncoordinated operations. He said continued updates would be posted to the city’s Facebook page.
Cruz, who said just last week he was picking up his daughter from a camp in Hunt, said the state is “grieving right now.”
“The children and little girls who were lost at Camp Mystic; that’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” Cruz said.
Bexar, Guadalupe counties included in expanded disaster declaration
On Saturday afternoon, Abbott expanded his disaster declaration to include the following counties:
- Bexar
- Burnet
- Caldwell
- Guadalupe
- Travis
- Williamson
Abbott had previously signed a disaster declaration for the following counties during Friday’s news conference: Bandera, Coke, Comal, Concho, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Reeves, San Saba and Tom Green.
Remembering the victims of the flood
Officials have not released the names of people killed in the floods, but relatives and friends of victims have taken to social media to remember their loved ones.
Click here to read more about the victims.
County judge: Warning system not in place
In a news conference Friday, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said Kerr County does not have a warning system on the river.
When pressed by a reporter on why evacuations didn’t take place Thursday evening, Kelly said, “We didn’t know this flood was coming.”
“Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming,” Kelly said. “We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States, and we deal with floods on a regular basis. When it rains, we get water. We had no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what’s happened here, none whatsoever.”
The flash flood watch was issued for Kerr County at 1:45 p.m. Thursday. The first flood warning was issued at 1 a.m. Friday.
In a Friday news conference, Patrick said Jay Hall, an assistant chief with the Texas Department of Emergency Management, “personally contacted the judges and the mayors in that area and notified them all of potential flooding.”
“It is up to the local counties and mayors under the law to evacuate if they feel a need, but that information was passed along,” he added.
WATCH: KSAT 12’s Sarah Spivey explains the Guadalupe River’s crest over Friday and Saturday.
10+ inches of rain
Between 10 and 12 inches of rain fell in the Kerr County area overnight on Friday, resulting in major flooding along the Guadalupe River.
Rain gauges have recorded over 10 inches of rain in Ingram, but radar estimates suggest up to 13 inches in more rural areas.
Local authorities are working with other county and state agencies to respond to rescues.
“The entire county is an extremely active scene,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook.
Residents in the area are urged to shelter in place and not travel. People living near creeks, streams and the Guadalupe River should move to higher ground.
Kerr County spokesperson Clint Morris told KSAT it is “an extremely active scene, countywide.”
“This may be a once-in-a-lifetime flood” for the county, he said, adding that they’ve responded to multiple calls for high-water rescues. People should avoid traveling west of Ingram near the Guadalupe River.
Comparisons to the 1987 flood
On the night of July 16, 1987, just outside Comfort, the kids at Pot O’ Gold Christian Camp were settling in for their final night of the retreat, while 30 miles up the Guadalupe River, at the other end of Kerr County, heavy rainfall would turn what had been a sleepy river into a wall of water.
While trying to evacuate the camp, a bus carrying 43 campers never made it across. Sadly, 10 of those on the bus drowned.
In Friday’s news conference, Kelly said the Friday flood “far surpasses the ‘87 flood."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.