Catastrophic flooding leaves at least 27 dead, dozens missing as 'deadly flood wave' swept central Texas

KERRVILLE, Texas -- Scenes of devastation stretched along Texas' Guadalupe River Saturday morning, the day after a "deadly flood wave" pushed a 20-foot surge of water several miles down the river, leaving at least 27 dead and dozens more still missing, including several girls from a summer camp.

And local officials said the death toll is expected to rise in the coming days.

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Saturday the death toll includes 18 adults and nine children so far. Rescue crews have saved 850 uninjured people and another eight with injuries in addition to finding 27 bodies. 

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the loved ones," Leitha said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a disaster declaration for more than a dozen counties in the Texas Hill Country.

"This is a catastrophic flooding event in Kerr County," the Kerr County Sheriff's Office said.

Among those still missing are 27 children who were attending a summer camp. 

A letter to parents from Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls located 18 miles from Kerrvile in Hunt, said they had experienced "catastrophic level" floods. While two of the groups have been fully accounted for, the letter stated "if your daughter is not accounted for, you have been notified."

"People need to know today will be a hard day," Kerville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. said. "Please pray for our community."

Abbott says the state has deployed more than 1,000 state responders and more than 800 vehicles and equipment, and more than 15 state agencies are currently responding to the flooding threat across the state.

Search crews are still spanned out across both sides of the river, but are finding conditions extremely difficult with roads destroyed and debris strewn across the area.

City manager Dalton Rice said they have to comb over 10 miles of flood-ravaged grounds.

"They are going to be in very debris(-filled) terrain, very difficult, challenging contours along the riverbanks," Rice said.

‘The devastation - you could hear it’

FOX Weather Meteorologist Bayne Forney stood along a portion of that damaged area in Kerrville on Saturday morning. 

"It's catastrophic, the damage that we're already seeing," she said. "Even though the water has been receding, we're now seeing a lot more of that damage opening up. Just behind me is the foundation of what used to be a home. The entire home was swept away. All that is left is the foundation and the front porch. That's it. It's a scene we're seeing all across this town... it's just devastating."

Tim Tompkins told FOX Weather he didn't have any idea of the impending disaster.

"Nothing - the power was out, that's all I thought was wrong. I didn't know anything until I saw (neighbor) Larry outside, and they were all staring in the wrong direction," Tompkins said. "I looked and the water was right up to my house. And the devastation, you could hear it."

Jesse Tompkins said he heard from them and raced to the scene.

"It was a complete shock. (Tim) texted me and I woke up," Jesse said. "I jumped out of bed, threw on the first pair of jeans and shirt that I had. And I came driving down here as fast as I could. And turning that corner, it was just crazy to look down here, to see all the houses missing. It's just the foundations left. And I've never seen anything like it."

'We didn't know the flood was coming'

Those along the river had little indication of the upcoming destruction or much time to act. A cluster of thunderstorms sat parked over the region Thursday night into early Friday morning, dumping 12-15 inches of rain in just hours around San Angelo and triggering a Flash Flood Emergency. Mason reported 15.60 inches while San Angelo registered 12.72 inches.

Heavy rains crawled to the south and east, eventually pouring 5-8 inches of rain across the Guadelupe River basin, sending torrents of water downstream.

"Automated rain gauges indicate a large and deadly flood wave is moving down the Guadalupe River," the National Weather Service (NWS) warned in issuing their Flash Flood Emergency Friday morning. "Flash flooding is already occurring. This is a Flash Flood Emergency for the Guadalupe River from Center Point to Sisterdale. This is a particularly dangerous situation. Seek higher ground now!"

WHAT FLOOD WATCHES, FLOOD WARNINGS AND FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCIES MEAN

River gauges showed incredible rises in water levels along the Guadalupe. The surge measured 20 feet in just an hour at Kerrville and nearly 27 feet in Comfort, Texas in just 45 minutes, taking the river from normal levels to historic levels not seen in nearly a century before many had time to react.

"We didn't know this flood was coming," Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said during a late Friday morning press conference. "Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming."

The torrential rains led to damaging flooding in other nearby counties.  San Angelo in Tom Green County reported a 2-mile-wide area of town that had been "greatly affected" by catastrophic flooding. Their emergency dispatchers received over 100 calls for help and water rescues in just an hour early Friday morning.  The town of Brady in McCulloch County also reported numerous water rescues.

"Surreal is the best word that I could put to it," Jesse Tompkins said. "You know, it was so normal the day before, and then just gone the next day."

Slow-moving storm still wreaking havoc

While the rains subsided in Kerr County on Saturday morning, the storm is still dumping life-threatening amounts of rain in central Texas.

Flash Flood Emergencies were in effect Saturday morning for parts of Burnet, Williamson and Travis Counties, just north of the Austin area. Another 6-14 inches of rain fell in the area overnight, with rain falling at rates of 3-6 inches per hour, the National Weather Service in Austin said.  A gauge along Cow Creek near Bertram reported 14.44 inches since midnight. The Burnet County Sheriff reported widespread flooding issues and said they had been on 10 water rescue calls by late morning. 

In Georgetown, Texas, police were evacuating multiple buildings, including three apartment complexes, an animal shelter and a crisis center along the San Gabriel River as waters were rising to dangerous levels.

Another inch of rain was likely on Saturday.

Much like Friday's warnings, the NWS is urging people to seek higher ground as the storms present a "particularly dangerous situation."

And slow-moving thunderstorms with heavy rains remain in the forecast for Central Texas Saturday. While the storms had drifted east on Saturday morning, there are some indications more thunderstorms could return to the hard-hit areas later Saturday, with some areas under threat of another 3 inches of rain or more.

NOAA's Weather Prediction Center has the area in a Level 2 out of 4 flash flood risk, and Flood Watches remain in effect in Central Texas into Saturday evening.

Worst flooding in the region in 38 years

The latest catastrophic event is similar to flash flooding that impacted the region more than 35 years ago.

Slow-moving thunderstorms in mid-July 1987 caused significant flooding along the Guadalupe River, which resulted in the deaths of around a dozen people, with dozens of others injured.

The crests of the Guadalupe River exceeded those levels on Friday.