Thunderstorms and torrential rain triggered deadly flash flooding on Friday along the Guadalupe River in south-central Texas, killing at least 13 people and leaving more than 20 girls from a summer holiday camp missing, according to local authorities.
The US National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency for parts of Kerr County, located in south-central Texas Hill Country, about 105 kilometres north-west of San Antonio, after up to 30 centimetres of rain fell.
The Guadelupe River in central Texas reportedly rose by 8 metres in 45 minutes after intense downpours.Credit: AP
Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerrville, the county seat, told reporters the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing any evacuation orders.
“This happened very quickly, over a very short period of time that could not be predicted, even with the radar,” Rice said. “This happened within less than a two-hour span.”
The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office reported 13 people were found dead in “catastrophic flooding” in the area.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said authorities were searching for 23 girls listed as unaccounted for among more than 700 children who were at a summer camp when it was engulfed by floodwaters from the Guadalupe River about 4am US central time.
Patrick told a late-afternoon news conference said the river had risen about 8 metres in 45 minutes.
Search teams were flying 14 helicopters and a dozen drones over the area, in addition to hundreds of emergency personnel on the ground conducting rescues from trees and swift-flowing water. Federal and US Coast Guard personnel were assisting local authorities, officials said.
