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At least 24 people are dead and dozens more are missing — some of
them children who were staying in area summer camps — as heavy
rains caused “catastrophic” flooding along the Guadalupe River,
with parts of Kerr County particularly hard-hit by the natural
disaster.

The death toll from the Guadalupe River flooding has climbed to 24,
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Friday night.

County and state officials said they continue to search for
survivors and to try to recover the bodies of people who are still
missing. Officials did not immediately give an update for how many
people are still missing.

“We are not going to give any names at this time,” Letha said
during a Friday night news conference that including Gov. Greg
Abbott and other state officials. “We will be working around the
clock 24/7 until everyone is found.”

Abbott called the flooding an “extraordinary catastrophe,” and
promised the state would provide everything in its power to find
the missing people and help the communities hit by the flooding. On
Friday night, he signed a disaster declaration for Kerr County,
Kendall County and other counties affected by the flooding.

“I have assured all of the local officials here that whatever they
need, whether it be personnel, whether it be equipment, whether it
be search and rescue operations… whatever these communities need,
the state of Texas is going to step up and provide it,” Abbott
said. “We will stop at nothing to ensure that every asset and
person and plane, whatever is needed…is going to be involved in the
process of rescuing every last person and ensuring everybody
involved in this is going to be fully accounted for.”

Emergency crews continue to search for people feared swept away by
the floodwaters, which were spurred when heavy rains soaked the
Hill Country overnight.

In an afternoon news briefing, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said about 23
children who were attending Camp Mystic, a local Christian summer
camp, are still missing. During the night-time news conference,
state officials did not have a new number of how many remained
missing.

He said state game wardens were searching the flood zone on foot,
looking for survivors. Patrick said the Texas Division of Emergency
Management and other agencies had deployed 14 helicopters, 12
drones and 9 rescue teams — 400 to 500 personnel in all — to assist
with recovery operations in the Hill Country.

More than 12 inches of rain fell over a 12-hour period, sending the
Guadalupe River near Hunt to its second-highest level on record at
29.45 feet, the National Weather Service said. Near Comfort, the
river crested at 34.76 feet, more than 6 feet above flood stage and
the fifth-highest level on record for that area.

As of 1:30 p.m. Friday, a flash flood emergency remained in effect
in South-Central Kerr County, including the Guadalupe River and
areas like Hunt, Center Point, Kerrville and Comfort.

Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said the storms created “a very
devastating and deadly flood,” and urged all Kerr County residents
who live near the Guadalupe River to evacuate and move to higher
ground.

State officials were “surging all available resources” to respond
to the “devastating flooding,” Gov. Greg Abbott said.

“That includes water rescue teams, sheltering centers, the National
Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety,” Abbott said in a
written statement. “The immediate priority is saving lives.”

The flooding evoked memories of a similar disaster that happened in
July 1987, when heavy rains sent the Guadalupe River pouring out of
its banks and engulfed the Pot O’ Gold Christian camp near Comfort.

Officials evacuated the site, but the last two vehicles to depart,
a bus and a van, were caught in floodwaters as they tried to cross
a low bridge across the Guadalupe at 7:45 a.m., killing 10
teenagers.

On Friday morning, Kelly told Hearst Newspapers that at least six
people were confirmed dead in the current flooding, and the Kerr
County Sheriff’s Office also said the floods had resulted in
fatalities.

But at a news conference later in the day, Kelly declined to give
an estimate on the number of people who were dead or missing.

He said there had been dozens of water rescues, but declined to
provide updated casualty numbers, saying officials had been advised
not to do so. He did not say by whom.

Kelly, who lives along the Guadalupe River, said floodwaters had
reached his home office.

'No one knew this flood was coming'
Asked at the news conference whether the county had a warning
system that might have sounded an alert as the Guadalupe River
rose, he said: “We do not have a warning system.”

He bristled at the suggestion that the county might have taken
precautions to prevent loss of life.

“Rest assured, no one knew this flood was coming,” Kelly said.
“This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States. We
deal with floods on a regular basis. When it rains, we have water.
We had no reason to believe this was going to be anything like what
happened here, none whatsoever.”

He said authorities had established two reunification centers: one
at Ingram Elementary School at 125 Brave Run West in Ingram, the
other at the Arcadia Live, a historic theater on Water Street in
Kerrville.

“What we need is cooperation and prayers,” Kelly said. He
encouraged people to donate to the American Red Cross and specify
that the money go to victims of the Guadalupe River flood.

Among the sites hit by the flooding was Camp Mystic, a Christian
summer camp for girls in Hunt, an unincorporated community west of
Kerrville on the Guadalupe River. Camp directors Britt and Catie
Eastland pleaded for help and said that some children were not
accounted for and that some cabins appear to have been flooded and
possibly washed away. They also said the roads have been washed out
and that they need urgent air assistance.

Emergency crews carried out rescues before dawn at an RV park near
Howdy’s Restaurant in Kerrville.

Lorena Guillen, owner of Howdy’s, said she noticed heavy rains at
2:30 a.m., so she walked to the river’s edge to check the water’s
height.

She said everything looked fine, but an hour later, the flash flood
came in.

“The sheriff’s (office) came knocking on doors, and we started
getting people out,” Guillen said. “By then, it was too late for
the campers.”

Every RV that was parked in the RV park below the restaurant had
been swept away, Guillen said. She estimated 28 RVs had been parked
in the area.

“It’s total devastation… helicopters are flying in, rescuing people
trapped in trees,” Guillen said. “It’s bad.”

Connie Salas said she lost her brother, Julian Ryan, 27, when
floodwaters overtook their mobile home park in Kerrville, just off
the Guadalupe River.

Ryan died after breaking a window with his arm and he severed an
artery, Salas said.

The stay-at-home father of three was trying to escape his flooded
home where he lived with his mom and children.

“He died a hero for trying to save his family,” Salas said.

Salas said her home was so full of water, she was floating on top
of her bed and had to punch a hole in the roof to escape.

'We thought they were gone'
At Calvary Temple Church in Kerrville — which Texas DPS officials
and representatives of the Salvation Army and Red Cross were
staging area — San Antonio residents Dawn and Scott Moore sat at a
foldout table with Tammy and Paul Paynter, waiting for news on
their sons.

Carson Moore, 21, and Michael Paynter, 20 are childhood best
friends and college students who were spending the holiday weekend
at the Moores’ home along the Guadalupe River in Hunt.

Tammy Paynter said her son called her in a panic at 3:45 a.m. The
men had been awakened by the sound of windows shattering as
floodwaters began pouring into the home. They climbed out a
bathroom window onto the roof of the house.

The phone cut out at about 4:15 a.m., Tammy Paynter said.

An hour later, a neighbor told the Moores that their house and
several others in the neighborhood were destroyed. They feared the
worst for their son and his friend.

“We thought they were gone,” Dawn Moore said.

About an hour later, a shop owner called her and said Carson was
clinging to a tree about two miles from the home. The shop owner
saw Carson and shouted out to him, and the man pleaded with the
owner to call his parents. He shouted their phone number from the
tree, Dawn Moore said.

Michael Paynter was also rescued from a tree, his parents said.
Both men were taken to a rescue triage facility nearby.

While the Paynters were waiting to reunite with their son at the
church, a doctor called to tell them Michael was injured but stable.

“It’ll be more of a relief when I can hug him, see him and not let
him go,” Tammy Paynter said.

Flooding in Kendall County
Significant flooding also struck in northern and western Kendall
County, including in Comfort.

The Boerne Fire Department deployed rescue teams to assist
residents in the Comfort area, according to city spokesman Chris
Shadrock.

Kevin Klaerner, spokesman for the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office,
said crews rescued one man who was stuck in a tree. He said
everyone who needed to evacuate has done so.

County officials opened a shelter at Comfort High School for people
displaced by the flooding. In early afternoon, there were about 36 first-responders at the shelter and fewer than 20 evacuees. The
evacuees included a woman wearing scrubs accompanied by three
children, a man accompanied by three children and eight other
adults.

Officials set up a PB&J sandwich station in the atrium outside the
school’s gymnasium, along with coffee, chips and cookies at the
concession stand. Some area residents brought by a pizza and others
dropped off homemade sandwiches.

Tony Bernal, 91, and his wife Hope Bernal, 71, evacuated to the
shelter from their home in Comfort, which is about a block from
Cypress Creek.

They said they’ve lived through four other floods since they moved
to Comfort from San Antonio 23 years ago, and they brought their
medication, water, a comb and some magazines to the shelter.

“It had been raining all night and (her husband) said we’d better
think about evacuating. We started putting things in bags, and went
to church to drop off some clothes so they didn’t get messed up,”
Hope said.

A neighbor came over to check on them at the request of their son,
who had been unable to reach them and was concerned.

“We got up in the morning and I told her, ‘We’d better put some
clothes on because we might have to leave,’” said Tony, who was
killing time at the shelter working on the word games and Sudoku
puzzle in the San Antonio Express-News.

This is a developing story. Please check for updates.

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2025/07/04/death-toll-climbs- to-24-in-hill-country-search-and-rescue-continue/84470695007/

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