Flooding in Texas Hill Country

[Primerump]

https://www.npr.org/2025/07/05/nx-s1-5457278/texas-hill-country-flooding

NPR report

More Pictures
sad day for those parents looking for their children.
reports state over 21 children literally washed away by flash flood.
river rose over 30ft in a few hours, many rv parks totally demolished.

 

[Kirk]

This is from the National Weather Service about what happened.

For the most recent reports:

Death toll from Texas floods reaches 67, including 21 children​

 

[Wasillaguy]

Watched a reporter at Camp Mystic. Lawn is green and grass is standing, not covered in mud like everywhere else. Debris gathered around the buildings looked like it was an eddy area, not rushing water that would have carried things away. Praying the girls and counselor still missing from this camp are found safe.

 

[ChinMusic]

Just horrific. Since this is an RV site where any RVs wiped away?

 

[ferfer]

where any RVs wiped away?

Yes a whole campground located behind Howdy's Restaurant, Bar & Chill Kerrville, TX

 

[ferfer]

Site contains 2 videos of how fast water levels rise and some new pictures.

15 Heart-Wrenching Photos That Show The Texas Flood Devastation

"When you talk to the men and women that are up there in those helicopters and out in those boats and walking the ground, they're looking for live people right now and doing everything they can to continue to search as fast as possible." —W. Nim Kidd, Chief of the Texas Division of Emergency...

www.yahoo.com

 

[JudyJB]

They have sirens for tornado, why not a siren but with a different noise for floods? (For example, a solid sound for a tornado and a whoop-whoop-whoop for floods, and maybe something else for fire.)

I know there is an emergency notification systems for cell phones, but one thing that always confused me is how something is announced. For example, they will say there is a tornado warning for the following counties and then list several counties. The problem is that when traveling, I have no idea what county I am in and which ones I am headed for, so it makes it very hard to react correctly.

Ditto for the freeway lighted signs that say that there is a major crash and the freeway is closed at ____road and _____ road. If I am not from the area, I have no idea where those roads are located until I pull over and do some map research on my cell phone or laptop.

 

[Sunnyfalls]

Very sad, but not surprising as this has happened before and natural disasters have been increasing. We use emergency weather radios in our home and our RV. If there is an alert in the proximity of the radio, the radio alarm goes off and there's an announcement of what it is and when it will occur.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

 

[Primerump]

Yes a whole campground located behind Howdy's Restaurant, Bar & Chill Kerrville, TX

Flash flood video

 

[ButchW1]

Awful...Just awful...
Butch

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Even with a warning, it's difficult to react fast enough to escape a fast-approaching disaster. You need to have a prepared plan for each specific type and somebody has to make quick decisions for events as quick-hitting as a tornado or flash flood. 20/20 hindsight aside, getting 750 kids and their counselors up and moving toward higher ground in as little as 15 minutes and in the middle of the night could well be an insurmountable task. And that assumes the local authorities and camp management get the work and instantly accept that a once-in-a-lifetime event is about to occur.

 

[Kirk]

Debris gathered around the buildings looked like it was an eddy area, not rushing water that would have carried things away.

You are assuming things that are not valid. The camp is about 725 acres and much of it is on the river frontage. The water peaked at about 32' which was more than 15' above the previous record. There have been many pictures of the buildings that were damaged or in some cases, washed away. Camp Mystic before
Camp Mystic after

They have sirens for tornado, why not a siren but with a different noise for floods?

First of all, the idea of some type of warning was proposed by the Kerr County Commissioners some time ago but was voted down by the people because of the extreme cost. There were warnings on both radio and TV,That evening, at 11:41 p.m., the NWS issued the first Flash Flood Warning, hitting several counties . Then, at 1:14 a.m. on July 4, a “considerable” or life‑threatening Flash Flood Warning was issued for Kerr and Bandera County, which also activated Wireless Emergency Alerts (the “amber alert” tones on phones)

But that is only part of the story. I have lived most of my life in areas that get warnings of tornadoes on a fairly frequent bases and have learned that most people get so used to the warnings that they stop paying much attention to them. We were campground hosts at a state park in Kansas one summer and part of our job was to open the plumbing bay to the shower house when there was a warning, as it was the tornado shelter for the campground. In the course of the 3 month that we were there, we had 5 warnings and twice had tornadoes on the ground around the lake, one of which could be seen from our campground. We had 56 campsites and were full most weekends and mid week usually had a dozen or more campers on any night. Yet in all of the times we opened the shelter while the rangers went through the campground to warn people, we never once had more than 3 campsites take cover and twice nobody came at all, even though the campground was full. The flash floods in Kerrville, Texas, began with a flood watch midday Thursday, followed by a warning around 4 a.m. Friday. By at least 5:20 a.m., water levels were rising alarmingly. The Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in 45 minutes, according to some reports. The Kerr County Sheriff's Office first posted about the flooding on Facebook at 5:32 a.m. Most people were fast asleep.

 

[Wasillaguy]

You are assuming things that are not valid.

I'm not assuming anything, just making an observation in comparison to many other places where the ground was scrubbed clean by rushing water. The main lawn area and big common buildings are the lowest structures and sit about 20 ft above the bank per Google Earth. Most cabins are 30 ft or higher from the bank.
Note items are strewn in the cabin, not packed against one wall as would be the case with rapidly moving water.

 

[Domo]

EDIT: Because I still can't proofread.

Very tragic, sad and heartbreaking for all victims, survivors, relatives and responders.

Sadly, it is impossible for every community to have safeguards and warning sirens for every possible calamity. And, this issue is what is hitting the news now, revealing that there had been ongoing discussions about warning signals but there was never implementation.

As with all things tragic, I can imagine there will be a person or small group that will become vilified, broadcast by the media, have lives destroyed and then possibly be pardoned when no real offence is identified other than slow/confusing/conflicted bureaucracy - but their lives will not recover and they will join the other victims with regrets, sorrow and self-recrimination.

 

[Sunnyfalls]

Yep...lie, deny and delay...until the next tragedy captures the news cycle is a well established proven approach.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

 

[Kirk]

I'm not assuming anything, just making an observation in comparison to many other places where the ground was scrubbed clean by rushing water.

Sadly, it is impossible for every community to have safeguards and warning sirens for every possible calamity. And, this issue is what is hitting the news now, revealing that there had been ongoing discussions about warning signals but there was never implementation.

I have been in touch a little via text with a member of one of the disaster teams that is presently in Kerrville. As things move forward just how bad this was in only now beginning to be realized. Now all of the politicians are trying to get into the news to somehow use the event to get votes, as seems to always happen. In spite of that, the first responders and volunteers are making progress. The search area is a little more than 60 miles of river with amazing piles of debris of all sorts so the search is into a slow and tedious phase now. It is probable that some bodies may never be found.The most recent disastrous flood of the Guadalupe River, prior to the July 4, 2025, event, was in July 1987. That flood resulted in a tragic loss of life, particularly among campers near Comfort, Texas. Ten teenagers died when a bus evacuating them from a church camp was swept away by the floodwaters.

Since this is an RV site where any RVs wiped away?

Yes. There were several but since the camp was filled with children, it tends to get the most news. See these two stories.

With just word-of-mouth warning, one man raced 25 miles to save guests at his Texas RV park​

Hill Country flood destroys RV park, leaving owner devastated​

 

[Domo]

I have been in touch a little via text with a member of one of the disaster teams that is presently in Kerrville.

Please pass on our thanks to the teams, they need to know we all are grateful for their efforts.

 

[Kirk]

At least 108 people are dead across six counties. In Kerr County, officials reported the deaths of 57 adults and 30 children as of this morning.

 

[Kirk]

 

[Wasillaguy]

Yesterday the number of missing jumped from about 40 to 161.
Meanwhile, the summer (used to always be spring) flash flood season continues with record floods in New Mexico and Chicago.
They are saying today it could be Maryland, Michigan, New York.