Camp Mystic confirms death of 27 girls, staff in Texas flash floods

Camp Mystic, on Monday, said at least 27 campers and counsellors from an all-girls camp in central Texas died in the devastating flash floods that tore across central Texas on Friday.

The camp said in a statement on its website, “Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly.”

It’s unclear how many of the 27 fatal victims were children.

At least 81 people have died in the Texas flash floods since Friday.

On Sunday, officials said 10 children and a counsellor were missing. It’s unclear if that number has changed. The camp is located on the edge of the Guadalupe River, which became a mass torrent of water that surged over 26 feet in less than an hour on Friday.

“We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls,” the statement said.

As rescuers search for people by air, land and water, officials are warning those in central Texas that the flooding threat is not over. Abbott on Sunday said that expected storms “pose life-threatening danger,” especially in parts of the state such as Kerrville, which have been inundated with heavy rain. Still, the rescue operation will forge ahead.

“We will remain 100% dedicated, searching for every single one of the children who were at Camp Mystic as well as anybody else in the entire riverbed. We are working as swiftly as possible.”

For the meteorologists and hydrologists tracking the weather patterns that led to the deadly floods across the Texas Hill Country, the most urgent advisories weren’t deployed until it was almost too late, according to interviews and advisories.

Forecasters said they pushed out warnings as fast as they got the data. But the hilly terrain and the trickiness of predicting flash floods made forecasting and alerting communities along the Guadalupe River in real time particularly challenging.

“This is a problem that we are constantly trying to work on: how to better communicate,” Greg Waller, a hydrologist at the National Weather Service’s West Gulf River Forecast Center in Fort Worth, told USA TODAY.

“We can issue the best forecast in the world, but if it’s not put in the hands of the individuals so they can make the best decision, that forecast has little value.”

Guadalupe River rose nearly 30 feet in less than an hour

Flood watch in effect across central Texas as rescues continue

The National Weather Service extended a flood watch through 7 p.m. local time as downpours were expected through Monday, including in hard-hit parts of the state.

Federal forecasters said it’s difficult to pinpoint exact locations where the heaviest rain will fall, noting that an uptick in intensity is possible over the Hill Country, where the worst of the deadly floods have occurred.

Widespread rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches were expected, forecasters said, warning that some areas could receive 10 inches of rain.

“The thunderstorms should become more organised and move westward, possibly across the flood-ravaged portion of Texas during the day today,” the weather service said Monday.

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