At least 13 people were dead after flash flooding hit south-central Texas early Friday, officials said, with more than 20 girls at a summer camp still unaccounted for. "We have identified 13 fatalities," Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha told a press conference after devastating floods swept through the region northwest of San Antonio, warning more casualties were likely.
Some of the dead were children, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said. "About 23" girls were unaccounted for from Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River, which rose 26 feet (eight meters) in 45 minutes overnight, Patrick added. "That does not mean they've been lost, they could be in a tree, they could be out of communication," he said.
Patrick read out a message from the director of the summer camp, which had some 750 campers over the July 4 holiday weekend, reporting that it had "sustained catastrophic level of flooding." "We have no power, water or Wi-Fi," the message said.
Massive rescue efforts were underway to search for the missing girls, with trucks reaching the campsite to start bringing out people on Friday evening, according to US media.
