At least 68 deaths—including the deaths of 21 children—have now been confirmed in the central Texas flash floods, according to the latest update from officials, though dozens of children from a summer camp remain unaccounted for as blame swirls over preparedness and whether residents were properly alerted.
Flooding caused by a flash flood at the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas.
Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Authorities in Kerr County confirmed at least 59 people, including 21 children, were killed in the floods there, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a press conference Sunday, with the death toll expected to rise.
Rescue teams are searching for a group of 11 campers who were attending Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River, as well as one counselor, Leitha said.
More than 850 people have been rescued across Kerr County, which saw some of the worst flooding, by the Coast Guard and at least 1,000 first responders from Texas state agencies, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.
“We’re seeing bodies recovered all over, up and down,” Kerrville City Manager Rice Dalton said Sunday, as search-and-rescue operations focused on finding the remaining missing campers.
At least three more people were found dead in Burnet County, the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office reported after search-and-rescue operations rescued over 50 residents.
At least four more bodies were recovered in Travis County, according to multiple reports, while officials in Kendall County confirmed in a Sunday morning update two more residents died.
President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County on Sunday morning, while Abbott declared Sunday a “day of prayer.”
W. Nim Kidd, director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, faulted the National Weather Service for not predicting “the amount of rain we saw,” though alerts were issued beforehand and as it became clear the region was facing a flash flood emergency.
The NWS issued a flash flood watch Thursday afternoon that noted Kerr County, where much of the flooding began early Friday morning, was a particularly vulnerable area, along with more urgent flash flood emergency alerts in the overnight hours as the disaster unfolded.
The NWS was one of several federal agencies targeted by the controversial cost-cutting efforts of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, and has recently laid off nearly 600 employees—around the same amount of staffers it lost in the 15 previous years, the Texas Tribune reported.
Why Weren’t Summer Camps Evacuated?
Although the NWS issued warnings about the incoming weather system and the potential for massive flooding as early as Friday morning, it remains unclear why Camp Mystic and other summer camps in the area were not evacuated sooner. “That is a great question,” Kerrville City Manager Rice Dalton said when pressed about this Sunday, but did not provide an answer. Instead, Dalton said the city was still focused on searching for the remaining missing children. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, when he was asked why camps along the Guadalupe were not evacuated, told reporters Friday, “I can’t answer that, I don’t know,” before saying the county had “no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what’s happened here.”
Could There Be More Flooding?
There is still a risk for more rain in central Texas. The NWS issued another flood watch for north-central Texas through Sunday evening, as well as a flash flood warning for parts of Bosque, Hill, Johnson and Somervell Counties as heavy rains inundate the region.
Was The National Weather Service Properly Staffed?
A representative for the union for NWS employees told CNN that the offices in Austin and San Antonio had “adequate staffing and resources,” but also said the San Antonio office was missing a coordination meteorologist to work directly with emergency managers. When asked by a reporter from Kerrville if the government’s preparedness was a “failure,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the Trump administration was trying to “upgrade” the technology the NWS uses to send alerts and notify the public about catastrophic weather events. “For decades, for years, everybody knows that the weather is extremely difficult to predict, but also that the National Weather Service has done well,” Noem said at a press conference alongside Abbott. “And at times we have all wanted more time, and more warning, and more alerts, and more notification.” Noem added the Trump administration is working to update what she called an “ancient system” that “has been left in place with the federal government for many, many years.”
How Has The Nws Been Impacted By Federal Funding Cuts?
Some NWS field offices have reported the loss of around-the-clock staffing and reductions in weather balloon launches, which are crucial in collecting data on humidity, pressure, temperature and more elements needed to produce forecasts. Longtime meteorologist Troy Kimmel, who leads his own meteorological services company, told CBS Austin in May that local Texas offices such as the Austin/San Antonio office experienced some staffing shortages. The Austin/San Antonio office’s website shows six vacancies across its meteorological, management, observations and technician teams, though it is not clear how many of the vacancies are a direct result of cuts engineered by the Department of Government Efficiency. Forbes has reached out to the NWS for comment.
What Has Trump Said About The Flooding?
Trump said Friday the deaths reported in Texas were “shocking” and that the government would work with Abbott to provide federal aid. Trump has insisted states should play a larger role in handling their own weather disasters, saying last month his administration intends to “wean” states off help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency following this year’s hurricane season. Speaking alongside Abbott on Saturday, Noem seemed to double down on this idea. “We recognize that when something like this happens to a community, happens to a state, that the best responders are those locally because it’s your family members, it’s your community members that are being impacted, and you can respond quickly,” she said at a press conference. Noem repeated the position that the state should “run and manage” emergency responses, but said that the federal government would still “be here for the support and extra resources on the ground.” FEMA has lost hundreds of employees since Trump took office and ended its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which awarded around $4.6 billion to communities throughout the U.S. in an effort to prepare them for future weather disasters.
What Do We Know About The Missing Children?
The children considered missing were attending an all-girls Christian summer camp known as Camp Mystic. The camp has been around since 1926 and operates two sites along the Guadalupe River. The organization told parents in an email Friday morning it experienced “catastrophic level floods,” according to The New York Times.
Big Number
Over 1,000. That is how many rescuers were deployed in Texas on Saturday morning, the Associated Press reported.
Key Background
The Guadalupe River has had a history of floods, with one of the most prominent incidents occurring in 1987, when five to 10 inches of rain fell in the upper headwaters of the river’s basin. The river crested at 31.5 feet and flooding resulted in the deaths of 10 teenagers and 33 injuries. Inclement weather in Texas may continue in the coming months, as it and several other states are approaching the most active part of the 2025 hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season, forecasting a range of 13 to 19 named storms, six to 10 of which are forecast to become hurricanes.
