Catastrophic flooding leaves at least 24 dead, dozens missing in central Texas
In Kerr County, 24 people are dead and dozens more are unaccounted for as search and rescue continues following deadly flooding. FOX Weather Meteorologist Bayne Froney is live in Kerrville with the latest.
KERRVILLE, Texas — Scenes of devastation stretched along Texas’ Guadalupe River Saturday morning, the day after a “deadly flood wave” pushed a 20-foot surge of water several miles down the river, leaving at least 24 dead and dozens more still missing, including several girls from a summer camp.
And local officials said the death toll is expected to rise in the coming days.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a disaster declaration for more than a dozen counties in the Texas Hill Country.
Heavy rainfall led to flash flooding throughout the south-central Texas town of Kerrville on Friday morning. Local reports say rescuers were called to assist people stranded on rooftops and to investigate a home swept away by the swollen river.
According to Texas authorities, nearly 300 people have been rescued, but the exact number of those needing help is unknown because of the many parks and recreational areas along the Guadalupe River and water levels are still running high.
“This is a catastrophic flooding event in Kerr County,” the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office said.
Among those still missing are 23-25 children who were attending a summer camp. A letter to parents from Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls located 18 miles from Kerrvile in Hunt, said they had experienced “catastrophic level” floods. While two of the groups have been fully accounted for, the letter stated “if your daughter is not accounted for, you have been notified.”
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A photo shows overturned vehicles and broken trees after flooding caused by a flash flood at the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on July 5, 2025. Rescuers were desperately searching for at least 20 girls missing from a riverside summer camp, officials said on July 5, after torrential rains caused a “catastrophic” flash flood that killed at least 24 people as it swept through south-central Texas. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP) (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
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KERRVILLE, TEXAS – JULY 04: Trees emerge from flood waters along the Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025 in Kerrville, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. (Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images)
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COMFORT, TEXAS – JULY 04: Boerne search and rescue team members prepare their Zodiac boat for operations on the flooded Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025 in Comfort, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. (Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images)
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Flood damage in Kerrville, Texas.
(Joe DeCarlo) -
KERRVILLE, TEXAS – JULY 04: Trees emerge from flood waters along the Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025 in Kerrville, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. (Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images)
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A member of the public stands next to overturned vehicles and broken trees after flooding caused by a flash flood at the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on July 5, 2025. Rescuers were desperately searching for at least 20 girls missing from a riverside summer camp, officials said on July 5, after torrential rains caused a “catastrophic” flash flood that killed at least 24 people as it swept through south-central Texas. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP) (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
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First responders take a boat onto floodwaters in San Angelo, Texas, on Friday morning.
(San Angelo Police Department) -
Deadly flooding along the raging Guadelupe River in Kerrville, Texas on July 4, 2025.
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KERRVILLE, TEXAS – JULY 04: A Kerrville resident watches the rising waters of the Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025 in Kerrville, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. (Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images)
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COMFORT, TEXAS – JULY 04: Boerne Search and Rescue teams navigate upstream in an inflatable boat on the flooded Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025 in Comfort, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. (Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images)
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Severe flooding prompted evacuations in Kerrville, Texas, on Friday as residents were urged to stay off roads.
(KABB Fox News 29 San Antonio) -
COMFORT, TEXAS – JULY 04: Boerne Search and Rescue teams navigate upstream in an inflatable boat on the flooded Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025 in Comfort, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. (Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images)
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A member of the public looks out at flooding caused by a flash flood at the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on July 5, 2025. Rescuers were desperately searching for at least 20 girls missing from a riverside summer camp, officials said on July 5, after torrential rains caused a “catastrophic” flash flood that killed at least 24 people as it swept through south-central Texas. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP) (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
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KERRVILLE, TEXAS – JULY 04: Trees emerge from flood waters along the Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025 in Kerrville, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. (Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images)
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COMFORT, TEXAS – JULY 04: Comfort resident Reagan Arnold observes rising water levels near his home along the Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025 in Comfort, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. (Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images)
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KERRVILLE, TEXAS – JULY 04: Trees emerge from flood waters along the Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025 in Kerrville, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. (Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images)
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Deadly flooding along the raging Guadelupe River in Kerrville, Texas on July 4, 2025.
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Flooding in Kerrville, Texas
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Deadly flooding along the raging Guadelupe River in Kerrville, Texas on July 4, 2025.
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COMFORT, TEXAS – JULY 04: Boerne Search and Rescue teams coordinate operations near the flooded Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025 in Comfort, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. (Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images)
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Deadly flooding along the raging Guadelupe River in Kerrville, Texas on July 4, 2025.
(KABB-TV) -
Deadly flooding along the raging Guadelupe River in Kerrville, Texas on July 4, 2025.
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Guadelupe River flooding in Kerrville, Texas on July 4, 2025.
(City of Kerrville) -
A photo shows flooding caused by a flash flood at the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on July 5, 2025. Rescuers were desperately searching for at least 20 girls missing from a riverside summer camp, officials said on July 5, after torrential rains caused a “catastrophic” flash flood that killed at least 24 people as it swept through south-central Texas. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP) (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
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Abbott says the state has deployed more than 1,000 state responders and more than 800 vehicles and equipment, and more than 15 state agencies are currently responding to the flooding threat across the state.
“It’s catastrophic, the damage that we’re already seeing,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Bayne Forney said as she stood along the damaged river bank in Kerrville on Saturday morning. “Even though the water has been receding, we’re now seeing a lot more of that damage opening up. Just behind me is the foundation of what used to be a home. The entire home was swept away. All that is left is the foundation and the front porch. That’s it. It’s a scene we’re seeing all across this town… it’s just devastating.”
FOX Weather Meteorologist Bayne Forney shows what’s left of a home that was swept away during flooding on the Guadalupe River in Kerrville on July 5, 2025.
‘We didn’t know the flood was coming’
Those along the river had little indication of the upcoming destruction or much time to act. A cluster of thunderstorms sat parked over the region Thursday night into early Friday morning, dumping 12-15 inches of rain in just hours around San Angelo and triggering a Flash Flood Emergency.
Torrential rains caused the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, to surge on Friday morning, carrying away cars and other debris downstream.
Heavy rains crawled to the south and east, eventually pouring 5-8 inches of rain across the Guadelupe River basin, sending torrents of water downstream.
“Automated rain gauges indicate a large and deadly flood wave is moving down the Guadalupe River,” the National Weather Service (NWS) warned in issuing their Flash Flood Emergency Friday morning. “Flash flooding is already occurring. This is a Flash Flood Emergency for the Guadalupe River from Center Point to Sisterdale. This is a particularly dangerous situation. Seek higher ground now!”
WHAT FLOOD WATCHES, FLOOD WARNINGS AND FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCIES MEAN
River gauges showed incredible rises in water levels along the Guadalupe. The surge measured 20 feet in just an hour at Kerrville and nearly 27 feet in Comfort, Texas in just 45 minutes, taking the river from normal levels to historic levels not seen in nearly a century before many had time to react.
Historic rain slammed the city of Kerrville, Texas, Friday morning. Footage shot from a bridge overlooking the Guadalupe River, which runs through Kerrville, shows the river surging with floodwater . NOAA river gauges show the Guadalupe River was at nearly 30 feet.
“We didn’t know this flood was coming,” Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said during a late Friday morning press conference. “Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming.”
The torrential rains led to damaging flooding in other nearby counties. San Angelo in Tom Green County reported a 2-mile-wide area of town that had been “greatly affected” by catastrophic flooding. Their emergency dispatchers received over 100 calls for help and water rescues in just an hour early Friday morning. The town of Brady in McCulloch County also reported numerous water rescues.
Slow-moving storm still wreaking havoc
While the rains subsided in Kerr County on Saturday morning, the storm is still dumping life-threatening amounts of rain in central Texas.
(FOX Weather)
Flash Flood Emergencies were in effect Saturday morning for parts of Burnet, Williamson and Travis Counties, just north of the Austin area. Another 5-12 inches of rain fell in the area overnight, with rain falling at rates of 3-6 inches per hour, the National Weather Service in Austin said. Another 2-5 inches of rain was likely on Saturday morning.
Much like Friday’s warnings, the NWS is urging people to seek higher ground as the storms present a “particularly dangerous situation.”
And slow-moving thunderstorms with heavy rains remain in the forecast for Central Texas Saturday. While the storms had drifted east on Saturday morning, there are some indications more thunderstorms could return to the hard-hit areas later Saturday, with some areas under threat of another 3 inches of rain or more.
(FOX Weather)
NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has the area in a Level 2 out of 4 flash flood risk, and Flood Watches remain in effect in Central Texas into Saturday evening.
Worst flooding in the region in 38 years
The latest catastrophic event is similar to flash flooding that impacted the region more than 35 years ago.
Slow-moving thunderstorms in mid-July 1987 caused significant flooding along the Guadalupe River, which resulted in the deaths of around a dozen people, with dozens of others injured.
The crests of the Guadalupe River exceeded those levels on Friday.
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