KERRVILLE, TXOver the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Texas experienced flash floods that left several people missing, including girls who were enrolled in a summer camp. A huge search and rescue operation has been prompted by the destruction along the Guadalupe River, outside of San Antonio, due to their lack of preparation and the haste with which they moved at first.
Here are some facts regarding the massive that caused it to occur in and around Kerr County, as well as the efforts to find the victims:
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In an area that is prone to flooding, heavy rain fell at the wrong moment.
while a large number of individuals were asleep.
Because of the dry, dirt-packed terrain in the Texas Hill Country in the state’s center, where the soil allows rain to slide over the ground rather than soak it up, the region is inherently vulnerable to flash flooding. A especially strong storm that dumped the majority of its 12 inches (30 cm) of rain in the dark early morning hours on Friday was the precursor to Friday’s flash floods.
Around 4 a.m. on Thursday, the National Weather Service office issued an urgent warning that raised the possibility of catastrophic damage and a serious threat to human life, after a flood watch alert issued at noon. Some in the Kerrville region claim that water levels were becoming dangerously high by at least 5:20 a.m. The Guadalupe River rose 26 feet (8 meters) in just forty-five minutes as a result of the torrential rain that poured over the hills.
The number of missing has increased, and the death toll is predicted to increase.
Sheriff Larry Leitha announced on Tuesday that searchers had discovered the dead of 87 individuals, including 30 children, in Kerr County, which is home to summer camps in the Texas Hill Country. At least 107 people have died so far as a result of fatalities in neighboring counties.
Governor Greg Abbott reported that around 160 persons were thought to be missing. Many of those individuals, he added, were lodging in the Texas Hill Country without registering at a motel or camp. After authorities established a missing person hotline, the number of missing persons increased.
According to police, search teams won’t give up until everyone has been located.
At the Christian summer camp by the river, Camp Mystic, five girls and one counselor remained missing.
The catastrophe for former campers.
Workers look through big rubbish piles.
Although officials stated that the last live rescue occurred on Friday, Texas Game Wardens Lt. Col. Ben Baker reported on Tuesday that over 440 flood victims had been rescued. Authorities scoured 26 miles (42 kilometers) along the river, according to Baker.
Dogs were being used by authorities to assist in the hunt for bodies amidst massive piles of flood debris.
According to Baker, specialized teams must enter the area layer by layer. It takes a lot of time and is very dangerous. It’s a nasty job. There is still water.
AP photographers are among the biggest in Texas.
According to President Donald Trump, he will travel to the disaster area on Friday.
Authorities are under fire for flash flood warnings.
In addition to describing the floods as a disaster, survivors claim they were not issued any emergency warnings.
Rob Kelly, a Kerr County Judge who resides near the Guadalupe River, stated on Saturday that… According to officials, the water levels were extremely improbable given the historical record.
However, the threat in the area has been known by local officials for decades, and a county government report released last year warned that it was getting worse.
According to the research, officials also concluded that a second flood was likely to occur within the next year and that the worst-case flood events in the future might be more devastating than those in the past.
Concerns about alerting campers earlier
Authorities question why residents and kids summer camps along the river were not notified or instructed to evacuate before 4 a.m.
Leitha stated on Tuesday that he didn’t learn about the flash flooding until Friday between 4 and 5 a.m. When asked by reporters at a press conference who had been in charge of emergency operations prior to that time, he said he had not created a timeline.
“I don’t prioritize that,” he stated. Finding the folks out there and identifying and informing the next of kin are the three top priorities.
Communication between authorities and the campers may have been hampered by sporadic phone service in some of Kerr County’s more remote regions and cell towers that may have gone out of service due to the weather, Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said Monday.
Similar to a tornado warning system, Kerr County officials said they had proposed a more comprehensive flood warning system, but the public was not impressed.
