KERR COUNTY, Texas – As of 6:25 p.m. on Wednesday, 96 people — 60 adults and 36 children — are dead after Hill Country flooding, Kerr County officials said.
It is unclear how many adults and children remain unidentified.
Watch the full Wednesday morning press conference in the video player below.
Five campers and one counselor from Camp Mystic are still missing, Kerr County officials said on Wednesday night.
According to the Kerrville Public Utility Board, power has been restored to areas that lost electricity during the July 4 floods.
Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday that 161 people remain missing. An additional 15 fatalities had been reported statewide, the governor said.
As of 7 p.m. Wednesday:
- Kerr County: 96 dead (60 are adults deceased, 36 are children deceased) (161 missing)
- Kendall County: 8
- Travis County: 7 (10 missing)
- Williamson County: 3
- Burnet County: 4 (2 missing)
- Tom Green County: 1
- TEXAS:
- At least 119 deaths and at least 173 missing
Kerrville Community Services Officer Jonathan Lamb outlined some of the actions taken by police officers in the early morning hours of July 4.
Watch the July 8 morning news conference below.
In all, more than 100 deaths have been reported after flooding.
As of Wednesday morning, here’s what we know.
Emergency alert request from first responders in Kerr County met with delay
A request from a firefighter with the Ingram Volunteer Fire Department to send a mass emergency alert to warn residents of impending flooding was delayed, according to dispatch audio obtained by KSAT from a source.
>> Source: First responders requested emergency alert at least 90 minutes before it was sent
The request came in at 4:22 a.m. on Friday, July 4. However, a source told KSAT that neither the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office nor the Kerrville Police Department sent a CodeRED Alert to some residents until 10:04 a.m. on July 4.
Ingram, New Braunfels fire officials update search efforts
Search and rescue teams continue to work tirelessly along an eight-mile stretch of the Guadalupe River to find missing people after the July 4 flooding.
A New Braunfels fire official said on Wednesday the top priority is to provide closure to families of those still missing.
Watch the entire press conference below:
The operation faces challenges from massive debris piles along the river, with about 300 personnel involved in clearing the area.
The search includes first responders from across Texas as well as teams from Canada and Mexico.
Volunteers and professionals are combing through debris, checking vehicles and RVs, and sometimes entering the water.
Officials warn that the process could take months to thoroughly cover the river.
Those wishing to assist are encouraged to contact the Kerr County Emergency Operations Center.
Gov. Greg Abbott, others tour affected area
On Tuesday afternoon, ahead of a news conference, Abbott and several officials were given an aerial tour of the aftermath of the deadly Hill Country floods.
Watch Tuesday’s tour below.
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.
During Tuesday’s news conference with the governor, 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. All three bodies had been recovered by Tuesday, according to Martin.
Watch the full Tuesday afternoon press conference in the video player below:
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 nearly 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,” Baker 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.
>> 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.
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 on 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.
>> 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 on July 2.
>> Timeline: When the warnings began for Kerr County before catastrophic flooding
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 (FEMA) 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 (TCEQ) 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.
San Antonio-area state lawmaker lends a hand
State Rep. Josey Garcia, a San Antonio lawmaker who represents portions of the West Side, joined KSAT 12 News anchor Ernie Zuniga on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the search and recovery effort in Kerrville.
“We connected with (state) representative Wes Virdell, who is my colleague in the (state) House,” Garcia, a former combat veteran, said. “Him and I are Air Force veterans. When this tragedy occurred, my first instinct was to call him and to check on him and his family and to give them our prayers and to let him know that, as his battle buddy, we had his back.”
Watch Zuniga’s interview below.
Search and rescue efforts continue
State Highway 39 and Old Ingram Loop remain closed aside from first responders and residents living in the area, Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said.
Multiple local, state and national first responders are expected to resume search and rescue efforts this week.
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.
KPUB reported continued power outages between Hunt and Ingram along the south fork of the Guadalupe River, according to Rice.
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 Jr. 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.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who said he picked up his daughter from a camp in Hunt a week before the floods, 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 July 5, 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.
How to help
As rescue operations continue in the Hill Country, many are asking how they can support those affected by the floods.
Click here to read about some ways to help victims and their families, as well as how to support first responders.
County judge: Warning system not in place
In a July 4 news conference, 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.”
A Flash Flood Watch was issued for Kerr County at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday. The first flood warning was issued at 1 a.m. Friday.
In a July 4 news conference, then-acting Governor (and current Lt. Gov.) Dan 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,” Patrick 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 July 4, resulting in major flooding along the Guadalupe River.
Rain gauges have recorded more than 10 inches of rain in Ingram, but radar estimates suggest up to 13 inches in more rural areas.
Kerr County spokesperson Clint Morris told KSAT on July 4 that 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 a July 4 news conference, Kelly said the Friday flood “far surpasses the ‘87 flood."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More recent related coverage of the Hill Country floods: