XPost: alt.society.liberalism, alt.global-warming, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: global-warming@dont-email.me   
      
   At least 24 people are dead and dozens more are missing — some of   
   them children who were staying in area summer camps — as heavy   
   rains caused “catastrophic” flooding along the Guadalupe River,   
   with parts of Kerr County particularly hard-hit by the natural   
   disaster.   
      
   The death toll from the Guadalupe River flooding has climbed to 24,   
   Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Friday night.   
      
   County and state officials said they continue to search for   
   survivors and to try to recover the bodies of people who are still   
   missing. Officials did not immediately give an update for how many   
   people are still missing.   
      
   “We are not going to give any names at this time,” Letha said   
   during a Friday night news conference that including Gov. Greg   
   Abbott and other state officials. “We will be working around the   
   clock 24/7 until everyone is found.”   
      
   Abbott called the flooding an “extraordinary catastrophe,” and   
   promised the state would provide everything in its power to find   
   the missing people and help the communities hit by the flooding. On   
   Friday night, he signed a disaster declaration for Kerr County,   
   Kendall County and other counties affected by the flooding.   
      
   “I have assured all of the local officials here that whatever they   
   need, whether it be personnel, whether it be equipment, whether it   
   be search and rescue operations… whatever these communities need,   
   the state of Texas is going to step up and provide it,” Abbott   
   said. “We will stop at nothing to ensure that every asset and   
   person and plane, whatever is needed…is going to be involved in the   
   process of rescuing every last person and ensuring everybody   
   involved in this is going to be fully accounted for.”   
      
   Emergency crews continue to search for people feared swept away by   
   the floodwaters, which were spurred when heavy rains soaked the   
   Hill Country overnight.   
      
   In an afternoon news briefing, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said about 23   
   children who were attending Camp Mystic, a local Christian summer   
   camp, are still missing. During the night-time news conference,   
   state officials did not have a new number of how many remained   
   missing.   
      
   He said state game wardens were searching the flood zone on foot,   
   looking for survivors. Patrick said the Texas Division of Emergency   
   Management and other agencies had deployed 14 helicopters, 12   
   drones and 9 rescue teams — 400 to 500 personnel in all — to assist   
   with recovery operations in the Hill Country.   
      
   More than 12 inches of rain fell over a 12-hour period, sending the   
   Guadalupe River near Hunt to its second-highest level on record at   
   29.45 feet, the National Weather Service said. Near Comfort, the   
   river crested at 34.76 feet, more than 6 feet above flood stage and   
   the fifth-highest level on record for that area.   
      
   As of 1:30 p.m. Friday, a flash flood emergency remained in effect   
   in South-Central Kerr County, including the Guadalupe River and   
   areas like Hunt, Center Point, Kerrville and Comfort.   
      
   Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said the storms created “a very   
   devastating and deadly flood,” and urged all Kerr County residents   
   who live near the Guadalupe River to evacuate and move to higher   
   ground.   
      
   State officials were “surging all available resources” to respond   
   to the “devastating flooding,” Gov. Greg Abbott said.   
      
   “That includes water rescue teams, sheltering centers, the National   
   Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety,” Abbott said in a   
   written statement. “The immediate priority is saving lives.”   
      
   The flooding evoked memories of a similar disaster that happened in   
   July 1987, when heavy rains sent the Guadalupe River pouring out of   
   its banks and engulfed the Pot O’ Gold Christian camp near Comfort.   
      
   Officials evacuated the site, but the last two vehicles to depart,   
   a bus and a van, were caught in floodwaters as they tried to cross   
   a low bridge across the Guadalupe at 7:45 a.m., killing 10   
   teenagers.   
      
   On Friday morning, Kelly told Hearst Newspapers that at least six   
   people were confirmed dead in the current flooding, and the Kerr   
   County Sheriff’s Office also said the floods had resulted in   
   fatalities.   
      
   But at a news conference later in the day, Kelly declined to give   
   an estimate on the number of people who were dead or missing.   
      
   He said there had been dozens of water rescues, but declined to   
   provide updated casualty numbers, saying officials had been advised   
   not to do so. He did not say by whom.   
      
   Kelly, who lives along the Guadalupe River, said floodwaters had   
   reached his home office.   
      
   'No one knew this flood was coming'   
   Asked at the news conference whether the county had a warning   
   system that might have sounded an alert as the Guadalupe River   
   rose, he said: “We do not have a warning system.”   
      
   He bristled at the suggestion that the county might have taken   
   precautions to prevent loss of life.   
      
   “Rest assured, no one knew this flood was coming,” Kelly said.   
   “This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States. We   
   deal with floods on a regular basis. When it rains, we have water.   
   We had no reason to believe this was going to be anything like what   
   happened here, none whatsoever.”   
      
   He said authorities had established two reunification centers: one   
   at Ingram Elementary School at 125 Brave Run West in Ingram, the   
   other at the Arcadia Live, a historic theater on Water Street in   
   Kerrville.   
      
   “What we need is cooperation and prayers,” Kelly said. He   
   encouraged people to donate to the American Red Cross and specify   
   that the money go to victims of the Guadalupe River flood.   
      
   Among the sites hit by the flooding was Camp Mystic, a Christian   
   summer camp for girls in Hunt, an unincorporated community west of   
   Kerrville on the Guadalupe River. Camp directors Britt and Catie   
   Eastland pleaded for help and said that some children were not   
   accounted for and that some cabins appear to have been flooded and   
   possibly washed away. They also said the roads have been washed out   
   and that they need urgent air assistance.   
      
   Emergency crews carried out rescues before dawn at an RV park near   
   Howdy’s Restaurant in Kerrville.   
      
   Lorena Guillen, owner of Howdy’s, said she noticed heavy rains at   
   2:30 a.m., so she walked to the river’s edge to check the water’s   
   height.   
      
   She said everything looked fine, but an hour later, the flash flood   
   came in.   
      
   “The sheriff’s (office) came knocking on doors, and we started   
   getting people out,” Guillen said. “By then, it was too late for   
   the campers.”   
      
   Every RV that was parked in the RV park below the restaurant had   
   been swept away, Guillen said. She estimated 28 RVs had been parked   
   in the area.   
      
   “It’s total devastation… helicopters are flying in, rescuing people   
   trapped in trees,” Guillen said. “It’s bad.”   
      
   Connie Salas said she lost her brother, Julian Ryan, 27, when   
   floodwaters overtook their mobile home park in Kerrville, just off   
   the Guadalupe River.   
      
   Ryan died after breaking a window with his arm and he severed an   
   artery, Salas said.   
      
   The stay-at-home father of three was trying to escape his flooded   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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