Flash Floods Devastate Texas Again, One Confirmed Dead
At least one person has been reported dead after flash floods struck central Texas once again. The area is the same location devastated by last summer’s flash floods, which claimed more than 130 lives.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in San Antonio reported “major and deadly” flooding from the Guadalupe River expected to ravage the region after days of torrential rain. Since Thursday morning, emergency officials have urged residents living near the river to evacuate immediately.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed there had been fatalities in an update on Thursday afternoon.
“We will do everything possible to save human lives,” Abbott said in a post on social media.
Abbott added that officials had carried out around 80 rescues. The person who died was confirmed not to be among campers in the area. According to the governor, the rapidly rising river level would continue to climb throughout the day.
The NWS continued to issue regular updates on the urgent threat, urging residents to seek safe ground immediately.
“CATASTROPHIC flooding is occurring. Move to higher ground now! The Guadalupe River is rising rapidly and will continue to rise!” the NWS San Antonio wrote on the X platform.
According to a report by the Texas Tribune, the Guadalupe River surged by as much as 32 feet (approximately 975 cm) in the space of just four hours. The flooding affected several areas of southern Texas, including Uvalde, Kerr, and Kendall counties.
Video footage from the scene showed cars submerged up to their windows in muddy brown water. Rescue workers were also seen carrying small children out of the surrounding waters to take them to drier ground.
Carter Lopez, 30, a resident of Boerne, Texas, described how he helped pull his neighbours out of the floodwater. The ground floor of his neighbours’ apartment was submerged under four inches of water, forcing them to shelter in Lopez’s own unit. He said last year’s floods had not been “as bad” as this year’s for his neighbourhood.
“This isn’t something we can really prepare for,” Lopez said.
The latest floods have revived deep trauma among local residents. In July last year, flash floods in the same location killed more than 130 people, including 25 children and two counsellors at Camp Mystic, a girls’ summer camp near Kerrville.
During the Fourth of July holiday last year, the Guadalupe River near the camp rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes, sweeping away dozens of campers. Following the tragedy, Camp Mystic decided to cease operations and was declared bankrupt at the start of this year.