Zürcher Nachrichten - US rescuers search for missing girls in deadly Texas flash floods

EUR -
AED 4.322268
AFN 82.375198
ALL 97.820014
AMD 451.78854
ANG 2.106086
AOA 1079.109066
ARS 1480.955073
AUD 1.783601
AWG 2.12115
AZN 1.998322
BAM 1.962725
BBD 2.376034
BDT 143.447962
BGN 1.954727
BHD 0.443605
BIF 3447.971522
BMD 1.176782
BND 1.503537
BOB 8.131865
BRL 6.492422
BSD 1.176777
BTN 101.675313
BWP 15.705347
BYN 3.85117
BYR 23064.928952
BZD 2.36379
CAD 1.601147
CDF 3396.192855
CHF 0.932794
CLF 0.028454
CLP 1116.248879
CNY 8.425508
CNH 8.415269
COP 4751.904916
CRC 594.495056
CUC 1.176782
CUP 31.184725
CVE 110.76465
CZK 24.587725
DJF 209.137823
DKK 7.463693
DOP 71.085202
DZD 152.544512
EGP 57.775771
ERN 17.651731
ETB 162.50519
FJD 2.631517
FKP 0.870467
GBP 0.866965
GEL 3.189371
GGP 0.870467
GHS 12.249841
GIP 0.870467
GMD 84.727856
GNF 10186.225772
GTQ 9.03206
GYD 246.073459
HKD 9.237457
HNL 31.008077
HRK 7.531521
HTG 154.41812
HUF 398.509022
IDR 19149.304228
ILS 3.921044
IMP 0.870467
INR 101.666971
IQD 1541.584537
IRR 49557.234235
ISK 142.802446
JEP 0.870467
JMD 188.766031
JOD 0.834333
JPY 172.154396
KES 152.39661
KGS 102.819093
KHR 4730.663635
KMF 494.843557
KPW 1059.165111
KRW 1616.945196
KWD 0.359024
KYD 0.980656
KZT 633.31185
LAK 25377.306008
LBP 105380.835944
LKR 355.03021
LRD 236.532948
LSL 20.605539
LTL 3.474731
LVL 0.711824
LYD 6.366462
MAD 10.5778
MDL 19.899126
MGA 5213.14493
MKD 61.548603
MMK 2470.184178
MNT 4220.38234
MOP 9.514272
MRU 46.85937
MUR 53.366922
MVR 18.128018
MWK 2043.481966
MXN 21.823635
MYR 4.974848
MZN 75.266687
NAD 20.605626
NGN 1801.936165
NIO 43.246878
NOK 11.891483
NPR 162.684463
NZD 1.94651
OMR 0.452469
PAB 1.176777
PEN 4.1846
PGK 4.860404
PHP 66.647082
PKR 335.647598
PLN 4.248623
PYG 8814.099154
QAR 4.284189
RON 5.066751
RSD 117.12629
RUB 92.25858
RWF 1693.977818
SAR 4.414838
SBD 9.749752
SCR 17.228153
SDG 706.653239
SEK 11.194328
SGD 1.501945
SHP 0.924766
SLE 27.007419
SLL 24676.536668
SOS 672.524794
SRD 42.890234
STD 24357.013336
STN 24.894825
SVC 10.296461
SYP 15300.474049
SZL 20.605093
THB 37.845772
TJS 11.291179
TMT 4.130505
TND 3.372363
TOP 2.756138
TRY 47.61205
TTD 7.986144
TWD 34.45642
TZS 3033.161124
UAH 49.206645
UGX 4224.996991
USD 1.176782
UYU 47.30752
UZS 15045.159135
VES 141.535579
VND 30766.967727
VUV 141.285399
WST 3.102102
XAF 658.29367
XAG 0.029954
XAU 0.000347
XCD 3.180312
XCG 2.120774
XDR 0.817309
XOF 656.644614
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.545712
ZAR 20.64766
ZMK 10592.457711
ZMW 27.331014
ZWL 378.923353
  • CMSC

    -0.0400

    22.43

    -0.18%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • SCS

    0.2100

    10.68

    +1.97%

  • RBGPF

    -1.0000

    68

    -1.47%

  • NGG

    -1.6300

    72.65

    -2.24%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1200

    13.3

    -0.9%

  • BCC

    1.2000

    88.35

    +1.36%

  • AZN

    2.5200

    73

    +3.45%

  • RIO

    0.2900

    64.62

    +0.45%

  • GSK

    1.0100

    38.03

    +2.66%

  • BTI

    0.1500

    52.37

    +0.29%

  • BCE

    0.2200

    24.6

    +0.89%

  • CMSD

    -0.0300

    22.89

    -0.13%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    13.21

    0%

  • RELX

    0.4100

    53.09

    +0.77%

  • VOD

    -0.0200

    11.3

    -0.18%

  • BP

    0.1900

    32.71

    +0.58%

US rescuers search for missing girls in deadly Texas flash floods
US rescuers search for missing girls in deadly Texas flash floods / Photo: RONALDO SCHEMIDT - AFP

US rescuers search for missing girls in deadly Texas flash floods

Rescuers were on Saturday searching for more than 20 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in the US state of Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating flooding that killed 24 people -- with more rain on the way.

Text size:

"At this point we're at about 24 fatalities," Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha told an evening press conference on Friday, as rescue teams scrambled to locate stranded residents in the south-central Texas region.

Some of the dead were children, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said at a previous news conference.

On Saturday, the National Weather Service warned of more extremely heavy rain and "locally catastrophic" flash flooding to come in the region, located northwest of San Antonio.

"Flash flooding is already occurring," the NWS said in an alert, calling on residents to move to higher ground, and to "act quickly to protect your life."

In Kerrville on Saturday, the usually calm Guadalupe River was flowing fast, its murky waters filled with debris.

"It rained in a day what it usually rains in a year," said local resident Gerardo Martinez, 61.

"The water reached the top of the trees. About ten meters or so," he added. "Cars, whole houses were going down the river. That was pretty bad."

- 'Still missing' -

Friday saw a massive rescue operation launched, with around 500 personnel and 14 helicopters helping in the search for survivors.

Texas military official Major General Thomas Suelzer told reporters at least 237 people had been rescued or evacuated by emergency personnel, with 167 rescues performed using helicopters.

On Friday evening, the county sheriff said as many as 25 children from the Camp Mystic Christian summer camp in the flooded Kerr County were missing.

Lieutenant Governor Patrick put the number of missing children at "about 23."

On Saturday, US media reported that two of the missing girls were dead, citing their families.

The Heart O' The Hills summer camp, located about a mile away from Camp Mystic, confirmed on Saturday that its director Jane Ragsdale was among the dead.

They were among the roughly 750 children at Camp Mystic, a girls summer camp along the banks of the Guadalupe River, which rose 26 feet (eight meters) in 45 minutes with heavy rainfall overnight.

"That does not mean they've been lost, they could be in a tree, they could be out of communication," Patrick said.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a disaster declaration to boost resources for counties in the region, and President Donald Trump has promised federal support.

Vice President JD Vance on Saturday described the disaster as "an incomprehensible tragedy."

- 'Mass casualty event' -

Freeman Martin, director of the state's public safety department, said continuing heavy rain had made conditions challenging for rescuers.

Martin called the disaster a "mass casualty event."

State and local officials warned against residents traveling to the area which includes camp grounds dotted along the river, with dozens of roads impassable.

Videos on social media showed houses and trees swept away by the flash flood caused by heavy overnight rain of up to 12 inches -- one-third of Kerr County's average annual rainfall.

Governor Abbott shared a video on X of a victim being plucked from the top of a tree by a rescuer dangling from a helicopter, as floodwaters raged below.

The Texas National Guard sent rescue teams and the US Coast Guard joined efforts as well.

- 'Another wave' -

Kerr County officials have repeatedly said they were unaware of an impending flood overnight from Thursday to Friday.

"We didn't know this flood was coming," Kerr County judge Rob Kelly said on Friday, adding that the region has "floods all the time."

"This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States," he added, referring to the Guadalupe River.

Soila Reyna, 55, a Kerrville resident who works at a local church helping people who lost their belongings, witnessed the devastation unfold.

"It has been years since we had a flood, but nothing like this," Reyna said.

"Nothing like as catastrophic as this, where it involved children, people and just the loss of people's houses and you know, it's just crazy," she added.

Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual.

But scientists say in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events like floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and intense.

In Kerrville, Martinez said Friday's flooding was some of the worst he had ever seen.

"There is a saying here that there's a flood every hundred years," he said. "We had it. We've never seen anything like that and hopefully we won't ever see it again."

burs-aha/dw

W.Vogt--NZN