Texas flooding: Camp Mystic confirms 27 children and counsellors died in floods

Officials assist with a recovery effort at Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River Picture: Julio Cortez/AP

A summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas has confirmed that 27 children and counsellors have died in the flash floods that have wreaked devastation on the area since Friday.

Camp Mystic said it is “grieving the loss” the loss of the campers and counsellors as crews searched urgently for the missing following a weekend deluge.

“We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls,” the camp said in a statement posted on its website. 

“We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from community, first responders, and officials at every level.”

The news will likely put the death toll in Texas at more than 100 people since the flash flooding began over the weekend. Officials expect the figure to rise. 

Meanwhile, residents of Kerr County began clearing mud and salvaging what they could from their demolished properties as they recounted harrowing escapes from rapidly rising floodwaters late on Friday.

Reagan Brown said his parents, in their 80s, managed to escape uphill as water inundated their home in the town of Hunt. When the couple learned that their 92-year-old neighbour was trapped in her attic, they went back and rescued her.

“Then they were able to reach their toolshed up higher ground, and neighbours throughout the early morning began to show up at their toolshed, and they all rode it out together,” Mr Brown said.

Governor Greg Abbott said 41 people were unaccounted for across the state, and more could be missing.

In the Hill Country area, home to several summer camps, searchers have found the bodies of 68 people, including 28 children, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said.

A helicopter flies over the Guadalupe River (Eric Gay/AP)

Ten other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, according to local officials.

The governor warned that additional rounds of heavy rain lasting into Tuesday could produce more dangerous flooding, especially in places already saturated.

Families were allowed to look around the camp from Sunday morning. One girl walked out of a building carrying a large bell. A man whose daughter was rescued from a cabin on the highest point in the camp walked a riverbank, looking in clumps of trees and under big rocks.

One family left with a blue footlocker. A teenage girl had tears running down her face as they slowly drove away, and she gazed through the open window at the wreckage.

Nearby crews operating heavy equipment pulled tree trunks and tangled branches from the river. With each passing hour, the outlook of finding more survivors became even more bleak.

Officials comb through the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area (Julio Cortez/AP)

Volunteers and some families of the missing came to the disaster zone and searched despite being asked not to do so.

Authorities faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in an area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made.

President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration on Sunday for Kerr County and said he would likely visit on Friday: “I would have done it today, but we’d just be in their way.

“It’s a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible,” he told reporters.

Governor Abbott vowed that authorities would work around the clock and said new areas were being searched as the water receded. He declared Sunday a day of prayer for the state.