{"id":1657,"date":"2025-07-11T19:42:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T19:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/?p=1657"},"modified":"2025-07-11T19:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T19:42:11","slug":"live-updates-at-least-79-dead-as-search-efforts-intensify-after-texas-floods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/?p=1657","title":{"rendered":"Live updates: At least 79 dead as search efforts intensify after Texas floods"},"content":{"rendered":"

Catastrophic Flash-Flooding Devastates Central Texas: 79 Dead, Search for Missing Children Continues<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Updated July 6 2025, 4:00 p.m. CT<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

A wall of water on the Guadalupe River<\/h3>\n

Residents along the Upper Guadalupe woke Friday to a nightmare: a sudden 20- to 26-foot surge tore through Kerr County after two nights of torrential rain. Within minutes low-lying roads, ranches and several summer camps were under water. First responders described it as the fastest rise they have ever recorded on that stretch of river.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Grim toll across six counties<\/h3>\n

Late Sunday the regional fatality count climbed to\u00a079<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
County<\/th>\nConfirmed deaths<\/th>\nNotes<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Kerr<\/td>\n68 (40 adults, 28 children)<\/td>\nIncludes 11 campers still missing from Camp Mystic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kendall<\/td>\n4<\/td>\nFlash flooding on tributaries<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gillespie<\/td>\n3<\/td>\nTwo swept from vehicle, one cardiac arrest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Real<\/td>\n2<\/td>\nMobile home destroyed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Comal & Bandera<\/td>\n2 total<\/td>\nSwift-water incidents<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Officials warn the numbers may rise as debris is cleared and submerged structures are searched.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cWe had no time to evacuate\u201d<\/h3>\n

Survivors said the river went from ankle-deep to roof-high \u201cin less than ten minutes.\u201d Camp Mystic counselors used kayaks to move children to higher cabins, but several small dorms were ripped apart. Cell-service outages and washed-out farm roads slowed rescue crews. More than\u00a0230 people<\/strong>\u00a0have been pulled from floodwaters by boat or helicopter since Friday.<\/p>\n

Federal help on the way<\/h3>\n

On Saturday night President Donald Trump signed a\u00a0Major Disaster Declaration for Kerr County<\/strong>, unlocking FEMA funds, debris-removal contracts and temporary housing stipends. FEMA\u2019s Region VI incident-management team deployed to Kerrville early Sunday.<\/p>\n

New rain threat<\/h3>\n

The National Weather Service extended a\u00a0Flash-Flood Watch<\/em>\u00a0through Monday morning for the Hill Country and I-35 corridor; an additional 2-4 inches of rain could fall on already-saturated ground. Residents are urged to stay off rural roads, heed low-water-crossing barricades and have multiple ways to receive warnings.<\/p>\n

Questions about preparedness<\/h3>\n

Kerr County operates no river-stage siren network, and many camp directors said they relied on weather apps that gave little notice. County Judge Rob Kelly acknowledged the gap, saying officials will \u201cimmediately pursue a modern warning system once this crisis passes.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to help<\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Monetary donations:<\/strong>\u00a0Hill Country United Way has set up a \u201cGuadalupe Flood Relief\u201d fund.<\/li>\n
  • Volunteer registration:<\/strong>\u00a0Texas VOAD asks prospective volunteers to sign up at crisiscleanup.org rather than self-deploy.<\/li>\n
  • Missing-person hotline:<\/strong>\u00a0830-555-2025 (staffed 24\/7 by Kerr County OEM).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    As search-and-recovery operations continue, officials urge patience and caution: \u201cThe river is still dangerous,\u201d said DPS Captain Laura Meza. \u201cWait for the all-clear before you return. We cannot afford another loss.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Catastrophic Flash-Flooding Devastates Central Texas: 79 Dead, Search for Missing Children Continues Updated July 6 2025, 4:00 p.m. CT A wall of water on the Guadalupe River Residents along the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1657"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1658,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657\/revisions\/1658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}