More than 100 dead, 5 campers still missing in Central Texas flooding
At least 95 people have died in Kerr County in the hills of Central Texas, and five campers and a counselor remained missing on Wednesday from a Christian girls summer camp on the Guadalupe River after a torrent of rain thrashed the region before sunrise Friday.
The search for the children of Camp Mystic and others for whom authorities have not accounted began when the river rose by more than 25 feet in the early morning and flooded as people slept.
Search and recovery efforts continued into Wednesday. The bodies of 95 people, including 57 adults and 36 children, had been found in Kerr County as of 2 p.m. Wednesday. Authorities have not released the names of the deceased and said that some of the dead have not been identified.
Confirmed deaths across the state totaled more than 100 as of Tuesday and are expected to continue to rise because of a large number of people still missing. In addition to the Kerr County death toll, at least seven people died in Travis County, five in Burnet County, seven in Kendall County, two in Williamson County and one in Tom Green County.
There were 161 people known to be missing in the Kerr County area as of Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Greg Abbott said during a news conference. That number includes “another child not associated with the camp,” the governor said. He said that about a dozen people have been reported missing in flooded areas in other parts of the state.
“The numbers are going to continue to change — they’re going to continue to change until we’re done,” Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a Saturday afternoon news conference
In a statement on its website Monday, Camp Mystic’s leaders said the camp “is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River. Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly. We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls. We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from community, first responders, and officials at every level. We ask for your continued prayers, respect and privacy for each of our families affected. May the Lord continue to wrap His presence around all of us.”
Authorities are intensifying their focus on providing help to the affected families, Gov. Abbott said. “One of the most important things that we can do is to address their greatest concern, and that is there are so many families that are still waiting to learn about their loved ones. We are working 24/7 to get the information that will be able to answer their questions.“
Abbott visited Camp Mystic on Saturday to see firsthand what happened there. “It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through,” he said. “And we will remain 100% dedicated searching for every single one of the children who were at Camp Mystic, as well as anybody else, and the entire river bed to make sure that they’re going to be recovered.”
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Freeman Martin said that the UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth will help to identify the flooding victims. “The Texas Rangers are collecting DNA from family members and from the deceased victims, and we’re flying those to the University of North Texas (Center for Human Identification in Fort Worth,) and we will have answers with rapid DNA in hours, not days, to get some closure and information back to these families.”
Search and rescue efforts with helicopters, drones and boats began Friday, authorities said, with more than 850 people rescued over the weekend. On Friday, Texas National Guard helicopters were used to rescue 167 people, many of them hoisted to safety. Hundreds of swift water rescues occurred along the river in Kerrville and in the 30 miles west of the city.
“My instruction to every state agency involved in this is to assume everybody who’s missing is alive and there’s a need for speed,” Abbott said at a Saturday afternoon news conference. “Not just every hour, every minute counts.”
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said local families were among those affected by reports of missing girls at Camp Mystic.
“If your daughter is not accounted for you have been notified,” the camp wrote in a statement Friday morning, adding that parents who have not been notified can trust that their children are safe.
“We are working with search and rescue currently,” the camp’s statement read. “The highway has washed away so we are struggling to get more help.”
About 750 children were evacuated from Camp Mystic, which was founded in 1926 and serves girls who have completed at least the second grade.
“The camp was completely destroyed,” 13-year-old camper Elinor Lester told the Associated Press. “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”
Lester told the AP that the storm woke up the girls in her cabin about 1:30 a.m. Friday. Rescuers tied a rope for the campers to hold as they walked across a bridge with floodwaters up to their knees, she said.
The missing and dead
Several Camp Mystic girls, including best friends Lila Bonner and Eloise Peck from Dallas, who died in the flooding have been identified, according to their families. Lila, 9, and Eloise, 8, recently completed the second grade at Bradfield Elementary School in Highland Park.
“In the midst of our unimaginable grief, we ask for privacy and are unable to confirm any details at this time,” Lila’s family said in a statement to CNN. “We ache with all who loved her and are praying endlessly for others to be spared from this tragic loss.”
Eloise’s mother, Missy Peck, told KDFW-TV that “Eloise was literally friends with everyone. She loved spaghetti but not more than she loved dogs and animals. She passed away with her cabinmate and best friend, Lila Bonner, who also died. Eloise had a family who loved her fiercely for the 8 years she was with us. Especially her Mommy.”
Highland Park ISD Superintendent Mike Rockwood released a statement, saying, “Our hearts are heavy following the devastating flood in the Texas Hill Country. Many of our students were in the area, and our community is heartbroken for the families deeply affected by this tragedy.”
Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, 8-year-old twins from Dallas who attended University Park Elementary School., were also among the Camp Mystic children who died, their grandfather Dave Lawrence told the Miami Herald. Hanna and Rebecca gave “all in our family so much joy,” he said. “They and that joy can never be forgotten.”
Their 14-year-old sister, Harper, survived the flood.
Janie Hunt, 9, of Dallas; Renee Smajstrla, 8, from Kerr County; and Sarah Marsh, 8, of Mountain Brook, Alabama; are among the other campers confirmed to have died.
Janie, a great-granddaughter of oil baron William Herbert Hunt and a relative of the family that owns the Kansas City Chiefs, was attending Camp Mystic for the first time, her grandmother Margaret Hunt told the New York Times. Janie was the oldest of three children. Six of her cousins who were also at Camp Mystic are safe, her grandmother said.
The family of 19-year-old Chloe Childress, a Camp Mystic counselor from Houston, released a statement saying, “Chloe Childress lived a beautiful life that saturated those around her with contagious joy, unending grace, and abiding faith. Returning as a counselor to the place she loved so dearly, Chloe was looking forward to dedicating her summer days to loving and mentoring young girls at Camp Mystic.
“Our family was shocked to hear of the horrific tragic flooding in the Hill Country, and we were devastated to learn that our precious Chloe was among the victims,” the Childress family said. “While we know that her joy is now eternal and her faith has become sight, our hearts are shattered by this loss and the similar heartbreak of other families like ours. We desire to grieve privately during this time and thank so many caring people, in advance, for respecting this wish. Please know we are grateful for every kind thought, your quietly spoken prayers, and the countless hearts of sympathy that are carrying us through these days. We thank you for kindly respecting our privacy as we celebrate Chloe’s life and mourn our incomparable loss.”
Camp Mystic director Dick Eastland, who ran the camp with his wife Tweety, died when he was swept away by the floodwaters while trying to rescue some of the campers, according to officials and his family.
“If he wasn’t going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for,” Eastland’s grandson George wrote in an Instagram. post “That’s the man my grandfather was. A husband, father, grandfather, and mentor to thousands of young women, he no longer walks this earth, but his impact will never leave the lives he touched.”
Photos of missing girls, many around 8 years old and including some from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, were shared on social media as their loved ones made desperate pleas for information. Two other summer camps on the river, Camp Waldemar and Camp La Junta, posted on social media that all of their campers were safe.
Two sisters from Dallas who were vacationing in the area also were found dead, and their grandparents are missing.
Family members told KDFW-TV that Brooke and Blair Harber, who attended St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas died, and authorities were searching for Mike Harber and Charlene Harber.
Brooke, 11, and Blair, 13, had been staying with their grandparents in a cabin that washed away in the flood, according to a letter from their pastor, the Rev. Joshua Whitfield of St. Rita Catholic Community Church. The girls’ parents, RJ and Annie Harber, were staying in another cabin and are safe, he wrote.
“In moments like this, we are reminded of life’s fragility and the lasting power of faith,” Whitfield wrote. “We will honor Blair and Brooke’s lives, the light they shared, and the joy they brought to everyone who knew them.”
Ryen Brake from Burleson told KXAS-TV that his grandparents were among the missing. Joni Brake, 66, and Robert Leroy Brake Sr., 67, were staying in a cabin at the Blue Oak RV Park along the Guadalupe River.
Family members were able to reach the Abilene couple by phone to warn them about the flood, but that was the last contact they had with them.
“Between that phone call and the time that my uncle was able to reach where the cabins were, they were saying in that seven-minute span of time, cabins had been completely washed away,” Brake said to KXAS.
A Mansfield woman, Ty Mabey, was reported missing from the HTR campground in Kerrville.
A Lewisville couple was swept away when floodwaters rushed through their campground on the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, family members told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV. Jeff Ramsey’s body has been recovered, and his wife, Tanya Ramsey, is missing.
Jeff Ramsey called other family members at the campground and told them to evacuate, his brother-in-law Eric Steele told WFAA.
“I was trying to get to their cabin, but I didn’t make it,” Steele said. “He saved me, and he saved my mom.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said that officials will “do everything humanly possible” to find anyone who is missing.
“I’m asking the people of Texas, do some serious praying this afternoon. On-your-knees kind of praying, that we find these young girls and that they’re only unaccounted for because they’re somewhere that we don’t know yet but that they’re alive and safe,” Patrick said on Friday.
‘No one knew this kind of flood was coming’
At least 10 inches of rain fell on Kerr County in a matter of hours overnight, the National Weather Service estimated. Hunt County saw as much as 6.5 inches, and 7.85 inches further upstream.
The first flash flood warning for the area was issued by the NWS at 1:14 a.m. Friday. A flash flood emergency warning was issued at 4:03 a.m.
Residents and tourists said the extent of the flooding took them by surprise in the middle of the night as the quickly rising water swept away cars and poured into houses.
Ingram resident Erin Burgess told the AP that after their home flooded, she and her son clung to a tree for an hour until the water receded.
“My son and I floated to a tree where we hung onto it, and my boyfriend and my dog floated away,” she said. “He was lost for a while, but we found them.”
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly told reporters that the county does not have an outdoor warning siren system, but he and other officials defended their level of preparation.
“Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming,” he said. “We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States and we deal with floods on a regular basis. When it rains, we get water. We had no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what’s happened here.”
Flood-related issues such as improved emergency warning systems could be addressed during an upcoming special session of the Texas legislature, Abbott said.
“It’s going to be something that will be looked at,” the governor said. “The reality also is this, and that is, what’s needed in that river basin at that location could be far different than it was needed in some other river basin across the state.”
10 teenagers died in 1987 flood
The flooding brought the Guadalupe to its second-highest point in history early Friday, according to the National Weather Service, which urged people in the affected area and further downriver to move to higher ground.
“This flood wave will continue downstream through Kerrville and Comfort,” the weather service said on Facebook. “This is a very dangerous and life-threatening flood event along the Guadalupe River!”
The Guadalupe River on Friday appears to have surpassed the height of a famous flood in July 1987, when it peaked at 31.5 feet, according to the NWS. During the 1987 flood, 10 teenagers who were attending a church camp drowned.
Governor, president issue disaster declarations
Gov. Abbott said in a statement Friday morning that the “entire Texas Hill Country dealing with these devastating floods” would receive all “necessary resources” from the state.
“The State of Texas today has mobilized additional resources in addition to the resources sent in preparation for the storms,” he said. “I urge Texans to heed guidance from state and local officials and monitor local forecasts to avoid driving into flooded areas.”
“This is a time when we, as a state, need God more than ever,” Abbott said Friday. “The one thing I hear the most are the prayers that are being sent for those who are in harm’s way. There is an extraordinary collaboration to make sure that we address everybody’s concern as quickly as possible. As part of this, I am signing a disaster declaration to ensure counties have access to every tool, strategy, and personnel that the State of Texas can provide to them, which will be limitless.”
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The state’s initial disaster declaration covered the counties of Bandera, Coke, Comal, Concho, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Reeves, San Saba, and Tom Green.
On Saturday afternoon, Abbott signed an expanded disaster declaration that included Bexar, Burnet, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Travis and Williamson counties. Additional counties may be added at a later date.
Abbott also signed a request for a federal disaster declaration. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who joined Abbott at the news conference Saturday, indicated that President Donald Trump promised to honor the request, which Trump approved on Sunday.
“He is absolutely committed to using all the resources at the federal government to help unify families, rescue all those that are still missing and return those who maybe we will recover back to their families as soon as possible,” Noem said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that President Trump will visit Texas “later this week.”
How to help Texas flood victims
The Kerr County Flood Relief Fund, created by the Community Foundation of Texas Hill Country, will support relief and rebuilding efforts and direct donated money to vetted organizations to provide help in Hunt, Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point, and Comfort.
GoFundMe has a list on its website of verified fundraisers for people affected by the Texas floods.
Texas Search and Rescue is a nonprofit organization that’s providing search, rescue and recovery operations in the Kerr County area.
Mayor Parker said in a post on X that the Fort Worth Fire Department deployed two teams including 15 divers and swift water team members to help the statewide task force.
This story was originally published July 4, 2025 at 12:54 PM.
