PinnedUpdated July 6, 2025, 5:06 a.m. ETThe search for people swept away by devastating floods in Central Texas, including some two dozen girls from a riverside summer camp, grew increasingly desperate as the death toll climbed to at least 52 and the chances of finding more survivors appeared to dim.In Kerr County, waterways were gorged by thunderstorms in the predawn darkness of July 4, and tore through the Christian girls’ summer camp, trapping families inside trailer homes and sweeping people into the currents. The authorities said that there was “no cap” to the broader tally of the missing, and officials said the search was now a race against time, even as they refused to give up hope. It was also a race against more potential bad weather.Although heavy rainfall was expected to ease on Sunday, millions of people in Central Texas remained under flood watches before dawn. Pockets of rain in hard-hit areas of the Texas Hill Country could lead to more flash flooding, the National Weather Service said.Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said late Saturday that the girls’ camp and the adjacent Guadalupe River had been “horrendously ravaged” in ways he had not seen in other natural disasters, and that rushing waters had reached the tops of cabins.“We won’t stop until we find every girl who was in those cabins,” he said on social media.Death toll: Forty-three of those killed in the floods were in Kerr County, northwest of San Antonio. Elsewhere in Texas, four people were killed in Travis County, three in Burnet County, one in Kendall County and one in Tom Green County, the authorities said. Thirteen people were also missing in Travis County, which includes Austin.The victims: As the death toll rose, investigators were trying to identify victims. Among them were 8-year-old and 9-year-old campers, and a 27-year-old man who died trying to save his family by punching a window through their trailer so they could escape the rising waters. Here’s what we know about some of them ›An agonizing wait: As of Saturday evening, 27 girls enrolled at Camp Mystic, the Christian summer camp in Kerr County, when the floods hit, remained missing. The wait for news has been agonizing for the camp’s tight-knit community of parents and alumni. Read more ›Beauty and danger: Kerr County is in a part of Texas known as the Hill Country, where many residents have been attracted by natural splendor and a rustic vibe. But the region has also become known as “Flash Flood Alley.” Read more ›Accountability questions: Crucial positions at the local offices of the National Weather Service were unfilled, prompting some experts to question whether staffing shortages made it harder for the agency to coordinate with local emergency managers as floodwaters rose. Read more ›July 6, 2025, 12:53 a.m. ETThe flooding threat from slow-moving thunderstorms in Central Texas is expected to continue overnight. Six million people there remain under flood watches until Sunday afternoon or evening. An additional two to four inches of rain are possible across the Hill Country, with pockets of up to 10 inches, and excess runoff may cause flash flooding in low-lying areas, the National Weather Service said.July 5, 2025, 11:38 p.m. ETGov. Greg Abbott of Texas said he had visited Camp Mystic, where some two dozen girls staying near the Guadalupe River were reported missing in the floods. Abbot said in a social media post that the all-girls camp and the river had been “horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I’ve seen in any natural disaster,” and that rushing waters had reached the tops of cabins. “We won’t stop until we find every girl who was in those cabins,” he added.July 5, 2025, 11:02 p.m. ETChristopher FlavelleChristopher Flavelle has written about the National Weather Service since 2019. He reported from Washington.Texas officials have blamed the Weather Service for issuing forecasts on Wednesday that underestimated how much rain was coming. But the staffing shortages present a more complicated picture.Credit...Carter Johnston for The New York TimesCrucial positions at the local offices of the National Weather Service were unfilled as severe rainfall inundated parts of Central Texas on Friday morning, prompting some experts to question whether staffing shortages made it harder for the forecasting agency to coordinate with local emergency managers as floodwaters rose.Texas officials appeared to blame the Weather Service for issuing forecasts on Wednesday that underestimated how much rain was coming. But former Weather Service officials said the forecasts were as good as could be expected, given the enormous levels of rainfall and the storm’s unusually abrupt escalation.The staffing shortages suggested a separate problem, those former officials said — the loss of experienced people who would typically have helped communicate with local authorities in the hours after flash flood warnings were issued overnight.The shortages are among the factors likely to be scrutinized as the death toll climbs from the floods. Separate questions have emerged about the preparedness of local communities, including Kerr County’s apparent lack of a local flood warning system. The county, roughly 50 miles northwest of San Antonio, is where many of the deaths occurred.In an interview, Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge and its most senior elected official, said the county did not have a warning system because such systems are expensive, and local residents are resistant to new spending.“Taxpayers won’t pay for it,” Mr. Kelly said. Asked if people might reconsider in light of the catastrophe, he said, “I don’t know.”The National Weather Service’s San Angelo office, which is responsible for some of the areas hit hardest by Friday’s flooding, was missing a senior hydrologist, staff forecaster and meteorologist in charge, according to Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, the union that represents Weather Service workers.The Weather Service’s nearby San Antonio office, which covers other areas hit by the floods, also had significant vacancies, including a warning coordination meteorologist and science officer, Mr. Fahy said. Staff members in those positions are meant to work with local emergency managers to plan for floods, including when and how to warn local residents and help them evacuate.That office’s warning coordination meteorologist left on April 30, after taking the early retirement package the Trump administration used to reduce the number of federal employees, according to a person with knowledge of his departure.Some of the openings may predate the current Trump administration. But at both offices, the vacancy rate is roughly double what it was when Mr. Trump returned to the White House in January, according to Mr. Fahy.John Sokich, who until January was director of congressional affairs for the National Weather Service, said those unfilled positions made it harder to coordinate with local officials because each Weather Service office works as a team. “Reduced staffing puts that in jeopardy,” he said.A spokeswoman for the National Weather Service, Erica Grow Cei, did not answer questions from The New York Times about the Texas vacancies, including how long those positions had been open and whether those vacancies had contributed to the damage caused by the flooding.“The National Weather Service is heartbroken by the tragic loss of life,” she said in a statement, adding that the agency “remains committed to our mission to serve the American public through our forecasts and decision support services.”A White House spokeswoman directed a request for comment to the Commerce Department, which includes the Weather Service. The department did not respond to a request for comment.The tragedy began to unfold in the early hours of July 4, when more than 10 inches of rain fell in some areas northwest of San Antonio, including in Kerr County, where more than 850 people were evacuated by rescuers. As of Saturday evening, 27 girls from a Christian summer camp remained missing.That night, Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, appeared to fault the Weather Service, noting that forecasters on Wednesday had predicted as much as six to eight inches of rain in the region. “The amount of rain that fell in this specific location was never in any of those forecasts,” he said at a news conference with Gov. Greg Abbott.But what makes flash floods so hazardous is their ability to strike quickly, with limited warning. Around midnight on Thursday, the San Angelo and San Antonio weather offices put out their first flash flood warnings, urging people to “move immediately to higher ground.” The office sent out additional flash flood warnings through the night, expanding the area of danger.It is not clear what steps local officials took to act on those warnings. A spokesman for the Kerr County emergency management department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The amount of rain that fell Friday morning was hard for the Weather Service to anticipate, with reports in some areas of 15 inches over just a few hours, according to Louis W. Uccellini, who was director of the National Weather Service from 2013 until 2022.“It’s pretty hard to forecast for these kinds of rainfall rates,” Dr. Uccellini said. He said that climate change was making extreme rainfall events more frequent and severe, and that more research was needed so that the Weather Service could better forecast those events.An equally important question, he added, was how the Weather Service was coordinating with local emergency managers to act on those warnings as they came in.Most of the deaths occurred in Kerr County.Credit...Michel Fortier/The San Antonio Express-News, via Associated Press“You have to have a response mechanism that involves local officials,” Dr. Uccellini said. “It involves a relationship with the emergency management community, at every level.”But that requires having staff members in those positions, he said.Under the Trump administration, the Weather Service, like other federal agencies, has been pushed to reduce its number of employees. By this spring, through layoffs and retirements, the Weather Service had lost nearly 600 people from a work force that until recently was as large as 4,000.Some forecasting offices began to close down at night, and others launched fewer weather balloons, which send back crucial data to feed forecasts. The Weather Service said it was preparing for “degraded operations,” with fewer meteorologists available to fine-tune forecasts.Last month, despite a government hiring freeze, the Weather Service announced a plan to hire 126 people in positions around the country, in what Ms. Cei, the agency’s spokeswoman, described as an effort to “stabilize” the department. As of this week, those jobs had not been posted in the federal government’s hiring portal.Mr. Sokich said that the local Weather Service offices appeared to have sent out the correct warnings. He said the challengewas getting people to receive those warnings, and then take action.Under the Trump administration, the Weather Service, like other federal agencies, has been pushed to reduce its number of employees.Credit...Jordan Vonderhaar for The New York TimesTypically, Mr. Sokich said, the Weather Service will send an official to meet regularly with local emergency managers for what are called “tabletop operations” — planning ahead of time for what to do in case of a flash flood or other major weather disaster.But the Trump administration’s pursuit of fewer staff members means remaining employees have less time to spend coordinating with local officials, he said.The Trump administration has also put strict limits on new hires at the Weather Service, Mr. Sokich said. So unlike during previous administrations, when these vacancies could have quickly been filled, the agency now has fewer options.The Trump administration also froze spending on travel, he added, making it even harder for Weather Service staff members to meet with their state and local counterparts.That does not mean there is not room for cuts at the Weather Service, Mr. Sokich said. “But you need to do them deliberately and thoughtfully,” he said.David Montgomery and Judson Jones contributed reporting.July 5, 2025, 8:00 p.m. ETAmy GraffAmy Graff is a reporter on The Times’s weather team.Thunderstorms are difficult to forecast accurately, which can cause flooding.Credit...Jordan Vonderhaar for The New York TimesClusters of thunderstorms formed repeatedly over the same area of central Texas on Friday, moving slowly and delivering torrential rain that triggered deadly flash flooding. Some locations saw a month’s worth of rain in only a few hours.“It’s the prolonged excessive rainfall over one area that makes them so dangerous,” said Emily Heller, a meteorologist with the Austin-San Antonio National Weather Service office.The catastrophic weather in Kerr County occurred with a steady stream of moisture flowing in from the Gulf and pulling in remnant moisture from a former tropical storm that soaked Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula earlier in the week.It was as if a completely saturated sponge overhead was wrung out.“When there’s a lot of moisture in the air, like there was over the last couple of days, it can initiate these clusters of storms that are pretty small in spatial scale but can have really intense rain rates,” said Russ Schumacher, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University.The Guadalupe River rose 22 feet in three hours. Credit...Carter Johnston for The New York TimesEarlier in the week, the forecast for July 4 called for a chance of rain on Thursday and potentially drier weather on Friday. But by early Thursday morning, it had begun to shift, and a chance for thunderstorms with torrential rainfall had entered the forecast.Early Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a broad flood watch for parts of south-central Texas, including Kerr County, warning that a slow-moving storm system was expected to bring anything from scattered showers to intense storms through Friday morning.“It really became apparent early Thursday as models were finally coming into agreement,” Ms. Heller said. “We already had some rain, that was the push to send out the watch.”The first flash-flood warning, this one for Bandera County, went out just before midnight on Thursday. A watch is a heads-up that conditions are favorable for flooding, while a warning is an order to take immediate action because flooding is expected to occur or already happening.The Weather Service said a very dangerous flash flood event was unfolding in Kerr County by 1 a.m.Credit...Eric Gay/Associated PressJust after midnight on Friday, the Weather Prediction Center, an arm of the Weather Service that forecasts heavy rainfall, issued a forecast that clearly showed an extreme rainfall event was expected to occur in central Texas. The agency warned that hourly rainfall rates exceeding two to three inches of rain an hour could lead to significant flash-flooding, especially considering the terrain.The Hill Country, where the Guadalupe River spilled over its banks on Friday, is often referred to as “flash flood alley” because rainfall gets funneled through the hilly terrain and canyons into the valleys. “This can cause devastating flash flooding in a hurry,” Mr. Schumacher said.By 1 a.m. Friday, the Weather Service said a very dangerous flash flood event was unfolding in Kerr County and rainfall rates were up to three to four inches an hour with no indication of easing. A flash-flood warning was issued.“When you’re getting eight or ten inches of rain in a few hours, the soil can’t take up that water, and its going to run off quickly and the rivers come up extremely quickly,” Mr. Schumacher said.At about 4 a.m., a “particularly dangerous situation” warning came for Kerr County. This rare level of alert is used only in the most extreme weather events.It identified Hunt, Kerrville and Center Point, all communities along the Guadalupe River, as places of concern: “Residents and campers should SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW! Life threatening flash flooding along the river is expected.”The Guadalupe River had risen 22 feet in three hours. “This is a very dangerous and potentially deadly flood wave moving down the river,” the Weather Service said.Many people were asleep during the predawn storms, and the Weather Service said the warning was set up to set off mobile phone alerts and wake up people in the path of the flooding.Erin McCann contributed to this story.July 5, 2025, 5:48 p.m. ETThe flooded Guadalupe River near Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, on Saturday.Credit...Carter Johnston for The New York TimesThe flash flooding on the Guadalupe River in Central Texas has killed at least 51 people, including 15 children. Some two dozen girls from Camp Mystic, an all-girls’ Christian summer camp, are still missing.Rescuers have been searching the river Saturday, and the death toll is expected to rise. Here’s what we know about those who were killed.Julian RyanExhausted from a long night working as a dishwasher at a local restaurant, Julian Ryan, 27, was asleep in his trailer home in Ingram, Texas, when the nearby Guadalupe River reached his front door on Friday before dawn.Julian RyanCredit...Christinia WilsonBy the time he and his fiancée, Christinia Wilson, woke up, the water was up to their ankles. His mother, Marilyn Ryan, and his 6-year-old son had already rushed into the room for safety.In what seemed like a blink, Ms. Wilson said, the water was up to their waists; their front door had burst open and the river had gushed into the house. Their mattress began to float, so they placed their 13-month-old son and the 6-year-old atop it. The bedroom door was stuck shut from the water pressure on the other side.In a panic, Mr. Ryan tried to punch through a window so they could escape. But the sharp glass cut nearly through his arm, causing him to bleed profusely, Ms. Wilson and his mother said on Saturday in a phone interview.They called 911 again and again, but no one came, both women said. With the water rising to their chins, the women shouted for help as Mr. Ryan started to lose consciousness, they said.“He had lost so much blood and knew he wasn’t going to make it,” Ms. Wilson said. “He said, ‘I love you. I’m so sorry.’ In minutes, he was gone.”Ms. Wilson said the trailer was torn in half by the force of the water, yet everyone in the family but Mr. Ryan survived.“He was the best father, and was always such a happy person who was never above helping people, no matter what it cost,” she said. “He died trying to save us.”Blair and Brooke HarberTwo young sisters, Blair and Brooke Harber, were staying in a cabin along the Guadalupe River with their grandparents when their cabin was washed away in the flood, according to the Rev. Joshua J. Whitfield, the pastor of their Dallas church, St. Rita Catholic Community. Blair, 13, was headed to eighth grade at St. Rita’s school. Brooke, 11, was bound for sixth there.Both girls died and their grandparents are still missing, the pastor said on Saturday in a letter he sent to parishioners. Their parents — Annie Harber, a first and second grade instructional specialist at St. Rita’s, and RJ Harber — were staying in another cabin and are safe, he said.“In moments like this, we are reminded of life’s fragility and the lasting power of faith,” Rev. Whitfield wrote in his letter, adding, “We will honor Blair and Brooke’s lives, the light they shared, and the joy they brought to everyone who knew them.”A prayer service for the girls and for those affected by the tragedy was held at the church on Saturday afternoon. A photo of the service shows a packed house.Katheryn EadsKatheryn Eads, 52, died after being swept away in the floodwaters, her husband Brian Eads said in a brief phone call on Saturday.Katheryn EadsCredit...The Kerrville Daily TimesThe couple were awakened by rushing water surrounding them inside their R.V., Mr. Eads said. They managed to get out, and a man driving another R.V. offered them a ride. They made it across the street when the vehicle they were in died, Mr. Eads said. The couple was swept out of the truck by water. Mr. Eads said he was struck in the head by debris and lost track of his wife. He survived by holding onto a tree until he reached dry land, he said.Sarah MarshSarah Marsh, an 8-year-old student at Cherokee Bend Elementary in Mountain Brook, Ala., was one of the campers at Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas.Sarah MarshCredit...The Kerrville Daily TimesIn a statement posted online, Stewart Welch, the mayor of Mountain Brook, a suburb of Birmingham, confirmed that Sarah was among those who died in the flood and said the city was heartbroken.“This is an unimaginable loss for her family, her school and our entire community,” he wrote. “Sarah’s passing is a sorrow shared by all of us, and our hearts are with those who knew her and loved her.”In a text message on Saturday, Sarah’s grandmother, Debbie Ford Marsh, said that Sarah’s parents were not able to talk and declined to comment on behalf of the family.Earlier, on Facebook, she posted: “We will always feel blessed to have had this beautiful spunky ray of light in our lives. She will live on in our hearts forever!”Janie HuntJanie Hunt, 9, of Dallas, died in the flash flooding, her grandmother Margaret Hunt said in an interview.Janie HuntCredit...The Kerrville Daily TimesJanie was also attending Camp Mystic. It was her first time there as a camper, and she attended along with six of her cousins, who were safe, Ms. Hunt said.Ms. Hunt said she was in Vermont when she got a call from her daughter, Anne Lindsay Hunt, telling her about the flooding. Janie’s parents drove to Ingram Elementary, the reunification center, where they were told to visit a funeral home and identify their daughter. Janie, a great-granddaughter of the oil baron William Herbert Hunt, is the eldest of three children.Bobby and Amanda MartinBobby Martin, 46, and his wife, Amanda Martin, 44, were among those killed,Amanda and Bobby MartinCredit...The Kerrville Daily TimesMr. Martin’s father, John Keith Martin, told The New York Times.The couple, from Odessa, Texas, were reportedly camping by the Guadalupe River when their R.V. was swept away by the rising floodwaters. The elder Mr. Martin said one of his grandchildren and that grandchild’s girlfriend were with the couple and were still missing.“He was an adventurous man, adventurous and outgoing. He had many good friends, because he was a good friend,” John Keith Martin said of his son. “He’s just incredible.”Jane RagsdaleJane Ragsdale, the director and co-owner of the Heart O’ the Hills summer camp in Kerr County, is among those confirmed dead in the flooding, according to a statement posted to the camp’s website. No campers were residing at the site when the floods hit.Jane RagsdaleCredit...The Kerrville Daily Times“We at the camp are stunned and deeply saddened by Jane’s death,” the statement said. “She embodied the spirit of Heart O’ the Hills and was exactly the type of strong, joyful woman that the camp aimed to develop with the girls entrusted to us each summer.”Ms. Ragsdale, who became the camp director in 1988, started as a camper and later became a counselor.July 5, 2025, 5:13 p.m. ETVideotranscriptbars0:00/0:27-0:00transcriptWoman Rescued From a Tree During Floods in TexasRescuers found the woman clutching a tree after she was swept up from a campsite 20 miles up river.She’s up there. It’s receded a lot. There’s another boat, all right. [unclear background sounds] Jacket, they’re putting on her. [cheering]Rescuers found the woman clutching a tree after she was swept up from a campsite 20 miles up river.CreditCredit...Carl JeterCarl Jeter heard the screams early Friday morning as he was surveying the flood damage on the deck of his home in Center Point, Texas. When he went to investigate, he saw a young woman sitting in the branches of a tree above racing floodwaters.Mr. Jeter went to find help. Two boats from the fire departments in Boerne and Center Point arrived. Rescuers climbed up the tree and tossed the woman a life jacket that she put on before releasing her grip on the branches and dropping into a raft.Her survival story was even more remarkable than her rescue. She had been camping with her family in Ingram, 20 miles up river, when she was suddenly swept into the rising river before dawn and carried downstream for miles.“She was dodging R.V.s and refrigerators and all kinds of things in the river,” Mr. Jeter said. “She crossed four dams and went under bridges to get here.”Mr. Jeter, 70, said the flooding was the worst he had ever seen in the flood-prone region, and he was shocked the woman managed to survive the storm, which caused the Guadalupe River near his home to rise more than 20 feet in less than two hours.Mr. Jeter said he brought the woman into his house and gave her hot chocolate and a shower before helping her telephone her family members. Then she went to a local hospital where she spent the night and remained on Saturday, he said.Chris Shadrock, spokesman for the city of Boerne, confirmed the woman had been rescued from a tree but said he had no information about her condition. He did not release her name.It wasn’t clear what happened to her family members. At least 32 people died from the Central Texas floods and many more were missing, officials said Saturday morning.Rescuers from the city of Boerne rescued seven more individuals on Friday, according to Mr. Shadrock. On Saturday, water levels had lowered, though flash flood warnings were still in effect in some parts of Central Texas.July 5, 2025, 3:05 p.m. ETThe Guadalupe River overflowed its banks near Hunt, Texas, on Saturday. The river runs through the Texas Hill Country, which has experienced rapid growth.Credit...Carter Johnston for The New York TimesIn a part of Texas where the American South gives way to the Southwest, the Hill Country rolls across a vast expanse of a vast state, with fields of lavender, vineyards, a constellation of rivers and lakes — and the many people who have been lured by its natural splendor and rustic vibe.But the flash floods that swept through Kerr County on Friday — and the warnings that more could come — were an abrupt and agonizing reminder of the peril that lurks behind the idyll.The region has also become known as “Flash Flood Alley,” a recognition of a recurring threat that has taken lives and upended communities over the years. A propensity for high levels of rainfall combined with thin soil, exposed bedrock and steep terrain make it especially vulnerable.“This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States,” the Kerr County judge, Rob Kelly, told reporters on Friday. “We deal with floods on a regular basis.”At least 27 people were killed and many others remained missing after the Guadalupe River surged beyond its banks on Friday, in and around Kerrville, Texas, a city of about 25,000 people. The river rose nearly 30 feet in just an hour and a half.Longtime residents remember the Guadalupe River rising 29 feet one morning in 1987. Ten teenagers were killed after the bus they were in was swept away near Comfort, less than 20 miles from Kerrville.In Wimberley, a small city roughly 90 minutes east of Kerrville, 13 people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed and damaged in 2015 when the Blanco River rose nearly 30 feet within a couple of hours.Still, the region’s appeal has only intensified. Subdivisions and housing developments have sprouted up as part of the explosive growth that has radiated out from the city of Austin in recent years. The region has long drawn retirees and others looking for a life that feels a tad more rural. The area is also a destination for camping, hiking, riding and other tourist activities.The attraction, in part, is an atmosphere that many regard as a quintessential vision of Texas, with dance halls playing a homegrown version of country music and easy access to nature and wide-open space.Kerr County, which has been devastated by the recent flooding, has been growing steadily in population. In Kerrville, the county seat, there are barbecue joints, taquerias, inns, shops and campgrounds, all set just off the winding banks of the Guadalupe River.