Some 27 people remained missing from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river, said Dalton Rice, Kerrville's city manager. An unknown number of people at other locations were still unaccounted for, he said Saturday.
“People need to know today will be a hard day,” said Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring, Jr. “Please pray for our community.”
Searchers used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue stranded people in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads. The total number of missing was not known, according to the city manager, who said he didn't want to give an estimate.
Frantic parents and families posted photos of missing loved ones and pleas for information.
“The camp was completely destroyed,” said Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers at Camp Mystic. “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”
A raging storm woke up her cabin just after midnight Friday, and when rescuers arrived, they tied a rope for the girls to hold as they walked across a bridge with floodwaters whipping around their legs, she said.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 27 were confirmed dead, including nine children. Authorities said about 850 people had been rescued.
The flooding in the middle of the night on the Fourth of July holiday caught many residents, campers and officials by surprise. The Texas Hill Country, which sits northwest of San Antonio, is a popular destination for camping and swimming, especially around the summertime holiday.
AccuWeather said the private forecasting company and the National Weather Service sent warnings about potential flash flooding hours before the devastation.
“These warnings should have provided officials with ample time to evacuate camps such as Camp Mystic and get people to safety,” AccuWeather said in a statement that called the Texas Hill County one of the most flash-flood-prone areas of the U.S. because of its terrain and many water crossings.
Officials defended their actions Friday while saying they had not expected such an intense downpour that was the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area.
One National Weather Service forecast earlier in the week had called for up to six inches (152 millimeters) of rain, said Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. “It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw,” he said.
Helicopters, drones used in frantic search for missing
Search crews were facing harsh conditions while scouring the waterlogged rivers, culverts and rocks. “They are looking in every possible location,” Rice said.
More than 1,000 rescuers were on the ground. Helicopters and drones were being used, with some people being plucked from trees. U.S. Coast Guard helicopters were flying in to assist.
One reunification center at an elementary school was mostly quiet Saturday after taking in hundreds of evacuees the day before.
“We still have people coming here looking for their loved ones. We’ve had a little success, but not much,” said Bobby Templeton, superintendent of Ingram Independent School District.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was traveling to Texas and his administration was working with officials on the ground.
“Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy,” Trump said in a statement on his social media network.
‘Pitch black wall of death’
In Ingram, Erin Burgess woke to thunder and rain in the middle of the night Friday. Just 20 minutes later, water was pouring into her home from the river, she said. She described an agonizing hour clinging to a tree with her teenage son and waiting for the water to recede enough to walk up the hill to safety.
“That’s the only thing that saved me, was hanging on to him,” she said.
“My son and I floated to a tree where we hung onto it, and my boyfriend and my dog floated away. He was lost for a while, but we found them,” she said.
Matthew Stone, 44, of Kerrville, said police came knocking on doors but that he had received no warning on his phone.
“We got no emergency alert. There was nothing," Stone said. Then "a pitch black wall of death.”
‘I was scared to death’
At a reunification center in Ingram, families cried and cheered Friday as loved ones got off rescue vehicles. Two soldiers carried an older woman who could not get down a ladder. Behind her, a woman clutched a small white dog.
Later, a girl in a white “Camp Mystic” T-shirt and white socks stood in a puddle, sobbing in her mother’s arms.
Barry Adelman said water pushed everyone in his three-story house into the attic, including his 94-year-old grandmother and 9-year-old grandson.
“I was having to look at my grandson in the face and tell him everything was going to be OK, but inside I was scared to death,” he said.
‘No one knew this kind of flood was coming’
Authorities were coming under increasing scrutiny over whether the camp and others in the area received proper warning and whether enough preparations were made.
The forecast for the weekend had called for rain, with a flood watch upgraded to a warning overnight Friday for at least 30,000 people. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the potential for heavy rain and flooding covered a large area.
“Everything was done to give them a heads up that you could have heavy rain, and we’re not exactly sure where it’s going to land," Patrick said. "Obviously as it got dark last night, we got into the wee morning of the hours, that’s when the storm started to zero in.”
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county's chief elected official, said: “We do not have a warning system.”
When pushed on why more precautions weren't taken, Kelly said no one knew this kind of flood was coming.
More pockets of heavy rains expected
The slow-moving storm stuck over central Texas is bringing more rain Saturday, with the potential for pockets of heavy downpours and more flooding, said Jason Runyen, of the National Weather Service.
The threat could linger overnight and into Sunday morning, he said.
Popular tourism area prone to flooding
The area is known as “flash flood alley” because of the hills’ thin layer of soil, said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was collecting donations to help with the response.
“When it rains, water doesn’t soak into the soil,” Dickson said. “It rushes down the hill.”
River tourism industry is a key part of the Hill Country economy. Century-old summer camps bring in kids from all over the country, Dickson said.
“It’s generally a very tranquil river with really beautiful clear blue water that people have been attracted to for generations,” Dickson said.
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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio.
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