Unspeakable Tragedy in Texas as Death Toll from Deadly Floods Continues to Rise. The latest death toll reports 51 fatalities, while search efforts continue for many children who remain missing.
The flash floods, triggered by torrential rains that struck areas of central Texas on Friday, have claimed the lives of 43 people — including 15 children — in Kerr County alone, the hardest-hit area.
The remaining victims are spread across three other counties.
Rescue teams are scouring the area in search of the missing, including 27 girls who were attending a summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River.
Dalton Rice, head of the Kerrville city council, emphasized that they are currently unable to update the number of missing persons. “We know of 27… We will not release any other number, simply because we don’t know,” he told reporters.
“We will relentlessly search for every victim of this flood. We won’t stop today or tomorrow — we will stop when the job is done,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott assured during a press conference earlier, joined by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
Massive Mobilization
Around 500 rescuers, supported by 14 helicopters, have been deployed, while the Texas National Guard and Coast Guard have sent reinforcements.
At the campgrounds, the water level had receded by Saturday, revealing the extent of the devastation — dozens of stranded vehicles and uprooted trees, according to journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Catastrophic flooding occurring across portions of the Texas Hill Country this July 4th. The Llano River in Llano, TX is currently (as of 5pm) flowing at over 109,000 cubic feet per second, when 5 hours ago it was about 500. #TXwx @TxStormChasers pic.twitter.com/wLT5pEcG5T
— Clint Hendricks IV (@Clint_wx) July 4, 2025
The sweeping floods occurred on Independence Day, the national holiday in the U.S., due to heavy rainfall in central Texas. Warnings for dangerous flooding remain in effect across the wider area.
According to authorities, the Guadalupe River rose nearly 8 meters (26 feet) in less than an hour on Friday, during which 300 millimeters (nearly 12 inches) of rain fell — one-third of the county’s average annual rainfall.
Sources: Reuters, AFP
