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Texas floods: Summer camp confirms 27 girls and staff among dead in flash floods as more rain expected

- Rescue volunteer Greg Froelick is heading up rescue efforts to locate survivors near Camp Mystic – and tells the BBC he’s heard of people being found up to “eight miles (12.8km) down the river from where the camp was”.
- Describing the damage down there, he says “it’s pretty crazy” – with “giant trees wrapped around another tree, debris piles 20ft-plus high… it’s a complete disaster to be honest”.
- In an interview with BBC News on Sunday evening, he says he has seen “clothing and items from the camp dressers scattered everywhere, up and down the river”.
- Rescuers have been searching with dogs, clearing brush and are are now planning to use boats, he explains.
- “It rained on us most of the day today,” he says, and adds they had to seek higher ground when a “15ft wall of water” began surging through the area.
Image source, Reuters
- A major focus of the search has been Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls perched on the banks of the Guadalupe River which suffered significant damage.
- A number of the children were killed and several are thought following the flash floods.
- The camp in Kerr County said it was “grieving the loss of 27” campers and counsellors in a statement posted today.
- Its longtime director Richard “Dick” Eastland has been reported as among the dead.
- What do we know about the camp?
- It’s been operated by generations of the same family since the 1930s
- The camp’s website describes it as a place for girls to grow “spiritually” in a “wholesome” Christian atmosphere “to develop outstanding personal qualities and self-esteem”
- Some of the girls who are reported missing were in low-lying cabins – less than 500ft from the river bank, according to the New York Times

- Rescuers are racing against the clock in a desperate search for missing people, following devastating flooding in Texas on Friday.
- Photos from the southern US state show the scale of devastation across a vast area.
Image source, Getty Images
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- Louis Hays Park in the town of Kerrville now looks like a war zone, with flood debris scattered everywhere
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
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- Camp Mystic – a popular girls’ summer camp – was the worst-hit, when floodwaters swept through riverside cabins as most of the young residents were sleeping
Image source, Reuters
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- Rescuers with sniffer dogs have been deployed to the camp to comb through the site by Guadalupe River
Image source, EPA/Shutterstock
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- There are fears that a number of people may still be trapped
- More than 80 people – including children – are known to have died and another 41 are missing in Texas following flash floods.
- The worst hit is Kerr County, with 68 fatalities confirmed, including 28 children.
- There are also six confirmed casualties in Travis County, three in Burnet County, one in Williamson County, two in Kendall County and one in Tom Green County, according to CBS.
- Figures are changing quickly as rescuers continue to search for the missing, and officials say the death toll is certain to rise.
- A summer camp has said it is “grieving the loss of 27” campers and counsellors following flash floods in Texas on Friday.
- Camp Mystic, a riverside Christian girls’ camp in Kerr County, was deluged claiming the lives of a number of children and leaving others missing.
- “Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” the camp said in a statement on Monday.
- It added it is continuing to work with local and state authorities “who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls”.
Image source, EPA
- Search efforts are continuing in Texas as warnings are issued for further heavy rain over the next two days.
- More than 80 people have been confirmed dead across several counties, including 28 children, after flash floods on Friday. Officials say the death toll is certain to rise.
- The catastrophe unfolded in the early hours of Friday as the Guadalupe River rose 26ft (8m) in 45 minutes.
- Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Sunday authorities would “stop at nothing” to ensure every missing person is found.
- We’ll be providing updates throughout the day.
