Texas flood: Two dozen girls still missing, at least 24 dead

Fast destroyed water rose along the Guadalpe River 26 feet (8 meters) in just 45 minutes of dawn on Friday, washing homes and vehicles. The danger did not end as it was expected that there was more heavy rains on Saturday, and the flood warnings remained, and the hours remain valid for parts of the Central Texas.

The authorities are subject to increased scrutiny over whether the camp and others in the area received an appropriate warning and whether the preparations are sufficient.

Researchers used helicopters, boats and drones to search for victims and save the people who were cut off. The total number of missing persons was not known, but one of Sharif said that about 24 of them were girls who were attending mystic camp, a Christian summer camp along the river.

Parents and families have published pictures of missing loved ones and appeals to obtain information.

“The camp was completely destroyed,” said Ellinor Leicester, 13, one of the hundreds of the camp in Mestic camp. “A helicopter landed and began to take people away. It was really scary.”

She said that a raging storm woke up to its cabin immediately after the midnight of Friday, and when the rescuers arrived, they tied a rope until the girls held a bridge with a bridge with the flood waters wandering around their legs.

At a press conference late on Friday, Sharif Cher Larry Laithha Province said that 24 people were confirmed dead, including some children. The authorities said that about 240 people were rescued.

The floods caught in the middle of the night on the July 4 holiday, many residents, camp and officials. Texas Hill Country, northwest of San Antonio, is a famous destination for camping and swimming, especially around the summer vacation.

Accuweather said that the private prediction company and national weather service sent warnings about possible flood hours before destruction.

ACCUWEATHER said in a statement called Texas Hill, one of the most vulnerable areas in the United States due to its terrain and many water crossings.

The officials defended their actions on Friday while they said they did not expect such intense heavy rains that were equivalent to rain of the most famous months in the region.

Nim Kid, head of the Emergency Management Department in Texas, said that one of the national weather service expectations earlier in the week called for up to six inches (152 millimeters) of the rain. “He did not predict the amount of rain we saw,” he said.

Helicopter planes, drones used in feverish search for missing

Bob Vogarti, the meteorologist at the Austin/San Antonio office in Austin/San Antonio, said the river scale near the Mestic camp recorded 22 feet (6.7 meters) in about two hours. The scale failed after recording the level of 29 and a half feet (9 meters).

“The water moves very quickly,” said Vogartiti.

More than 1,000 rescuers were on the ground. Rescue teams, helicopters and drones are used, as some people are extracted from trees. American Coast Guard helicopters fly for help.

“Black Death Wall”

In Ingram, Erine Burgis woke up to thunder and rain in the middle of the night on Friday. Just 20 minutes later, the water was flowing to her home from the river, she said. She was described as a painful watch clinging to a tree with her teenage son and waited for water to recede enough to walk in the hill to safety.

She said, “Fortunately, it is more than 6 feet long. This is the only thing that saved me, he was flowing on it.”

She said: “My son and I have been subjected to a tree where I was stuck to it, and my friend and my father floated. He was lost for a while, but we found it.”

Matthew Stone, 44, from Kerville, said the police came at the doors, but had not received any warning on his phone.

Stone said: “We did not get an emergency alert. There was nothing,” Stone said. Then “Black Wall to die.”

“I was afraid to death.”

At the center of reunification of Ingram, the families cried and chanted when their loved ones came out. Two soldiers carried an older woman who could not go down to a ladder. Behind her, a woman holds a small white dog.

Later, a girl stood in a “Camp Mystic” and white socks in Baraka, crying between her mother’s arms.

Barry Adeleman said that the water pushed everyone in his three -storey home to the attic, including his 94 -year -old grandmother and his 9 -year -old grandson. The water began to come across the attic floor before retreating.

“I was terrified,” he said. “I had to look at my grandson in his face and told him that everything would be fine, but inside I was afraid to death.”

“No one knew that this type of flood was coming.”

The expectations for the weekend had called for rain, while observing the floods that were promoted to warn Friday night for at least 30,000 people.

Texas Governor Dan Patrick said the possibility of heavy rains covering a large area.

“Everything has been done to give them heads that could suffer from heavy rains, and we are not completely sure of the place where it will start,” Patrick said. “It is clear when the darkness became last night, we got to the first morning of the hours, when the storm started in zero.”

“We do not have a warning system,” said Kiir Rob Kelly province, chief official in the province.

When she was pushed to the reason why more precautions were not taken, Kelly said that no one knows this type of flood is coming.

More pockets of heavy rains expect

Jason Ronin, from the national weather service, said that the slow storm that it holds in the middle of Texas is expected to bring more rains on Saturday, with the possibility of pockets of heavy rains and more floods.

He said that the threat may continue overnight until Sunday morning.

The popular tourism area is vulnerable to floods

Austin Dixon, CEO of the Community Corporation at Texas Hill, who was collecting donations to help non -profit organizations that respond to the response to the catastrophe, said the region is known as “Flash Flood Ally” because of the delicate soil layer of the hills.

“When it rains, the water does not sleep to the soil,” Dixon said. “It rushes to the bottom of the hill.”

The river tourism industry is a major part of the Hill Control economy. Dickson said that the well -known summer camps of a century bring children from all over the country.

“It is generally a very quiet river with a really beautiful blue water that people have attracted to generations,” Dixon said.