July 4, 2025: Texas flooding leaves at least 24 dead, 20 Camp Mystic campers unaccounted for

Our live coverage of deadly flooding in Texas has moved here.

President Donald Trump speaks to the press onboard Air Force One, en route to New Jersey, on Friday night.

President Donald Trump called the central Texas flooding “terrible” and pledged federal support in the aftermath.

“It’s terrible. The floods? It’s shocking. They don’t know the answer yet as to how many people, but it looks like some young people have died,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled to his New Jersey golf club.

Asked if there will be federal aid, he responded, “Oh yeah, we’ll take care of them. We’re working with the governor. We’re working with the governor. It’s a terrible thing.”

At least 24 people have died in Kerr County, Texas, after severe flooding inundated the area, according to County Sheriff Larry Leitha.

The search for those swept up in floodwaters in central Texas will continue throughout the night as state and local officials “remain in a search and rescue posture,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday.

First responder helicopters with infrared technology will be flying overnight in a continued effort to locate any potential rescue victims, a source familiar with the search said.

Between 23 and 25 people at Camp Mystic in Kerr County, Texas, are still unaccounted for following severe flooding in the region, authorities said Friday night.

Early Friday morning, about 107 game wardens and an aviation group tried to access the camp, according to officials. Shortly after midday, they were able to enter the camp and start rescuing children.

Authorities were in contact with about 18 camps along the Guadalupe River and said Camp Mystic was the only camp with people still unaccounted for as of Friday evening.

A helicopter flies over the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on Friday.

More than 200 people have been rescued following severe flooding in Kerr County, Texas, and emergency response efforts are still underway.

On Saturday, personnel will be sent to help manage evacuee shelters with tracking efforts to help confirm those located to date, he added.

Suelzer said three additional helicopters are also on the way to help support the community.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference in Kerr County, Texas on Friday.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday he has issued a disaster declaration after severe flooding left at least 24 dead and more than 20 missing in the state.

The declaration was issued for several of the hardest hit counties in central Texas: Bandera, Comal, Concho, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimball, Llano, Mason, McCullough, Menard, Reeves, San Saba and Tom Green.

It will ensure the counties “are going to have access to every tool, strategy, personnel that the state of Texas can provide to them, which will be limitless,” he said.

“We’ll put in everything we have in the entire state,” Abbott said.

Severe flooding has left at least 24 people dead in Kerr County, Texas, Sherrif Larry Leitha said at a news conference Friday night.

There was also an additional fatality in Kendall County, but it’s not immediately clear if it is related to flooding, he said.

First responders deliver people to a reunification center in Ingram, Texas, on Friday, after flash flooding in the area.

School buses and trucks filled with rescued people drove into a reunification center in Ingram, Texas, on Friday as families reunited with their children from the nearby girls’ and boys’ camps.

Search efforts remain underway for the over 20 people who remain unaccounted for from Camp Mystic, with helicopters, rescue boats and other units searching the surrounding areas.

At Ingram Elementary, families embraced as people lined up around the building and others loaded into a military-style high water vehicle, CNN’s Ed Lavandera reports from Ingram.

Some of the children appeared to be emotionally shaken and were heard telling their parents, “I just want to go home,” Lavandera reports.

“Here is a truck full of people who are being brought into this area,” Lavandera reports. “This is working essentially as a reunification center. Many of the children who are being brought out of Camp Mystic and the young girls are reunited with their parents and families here.”

Some helicopters were seen landing and dropping off campers at the reunification center as yellow school buses arrived, video footage shows.

Lavandera’s team spoke with one parent at the scene waiting to reunite with his 10-and-8-year-old daughters.

People hug at a reunification center in Ingram.

Families line up at the reunification center.

Families are reunited at the reunification center.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will hold a news conference with state and local officials in Kerrville at 9 p.m. CT (10 p.m. ET) to provide an update on the state’s response to severe flooding impacting parts of the state.

Video shows a couple from Hunt, Texas, explaining the harrowing situation of waking up to their house flooding overnight following catastrophic levels of rainfall.

Maria and Felipe Tapia, who live approximately 200 to 300 feet from the Guadalupe River, described their home overflowing with water within 10 minutes, forcing them to swim out to get to safety.

Once they exited the home, the couple attempted to open the door to their truck before realizing it was stuck and decided to seek shelter with a neighbor on higher ground.

“We got out right on time,” Felipe said. “I felt like I was swimming under a river.”

Couple survive flooding in Texas

02:39 • Source: CNN

Couple survive flooding in Texas

02:39

An image posted to the Texas Game Warden's Facebook page shows trucks arriving at Camp Mystic to assist with evacautations on Friday, July 4.

Texas Game Wardens have arrived at Camp Mystic to help with evacuations after flooding took over the area.

The wardens, part of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, were seen with a line of trucks coming into the driveway, photos from their Facebook page show. Children gathered into the beds of the trucks to be evacuated.

Camp Mystic, the girls’ summer camp where state officials said more than 20 people remain unaccounted for, is located along a river that rose more than 20 feet in about 90 minutes overnight, according to the National Weather Service.

“Guadalupe River at Hunt continues to rise sharply and has reached 2nd highest height on record, higher than the 1987 flood,” the agency said on X Friday morning. “This is a very dangerous and life-threatening flood event along the river. Move to higher ground!”

Hunt, in Kerr County, saw about 6.5 inches of rain in just three hours early Friday — a 1-in-100-year event there, meaning it has about a 1% chance of happening in any given year.

A raging Guadalupe River leaves fallen trees and debris in its wake, on Friday, July 4, in Kerrville, Texas.

Severe flooding in central Texas has left at least 13 people dead and more than 20 children unaccounted for, and the death toll is expected to rise as more rain flows though the hard-hit region Friday night.

Searches were underway and officials scrambled to rescue people from floodwaters on the Fourth of July after heavy rain deluged central Texas, overwhelming the Guadalupe River and prompting multiple flash flood warnings and emergencies.

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch early Thursday afternoon that highlighted Kerr County as a place at high risk of flash flooding through the overnight. A flash flood warning was issued for Kerr County as early as around 1 a.m. CT on Friday. A more dire flash flood emergency warning was then issued for Kerr County at 4:03 a.m. CT, followed by another one for Kerrville at 5:34 a.m. CT.

As others across the country attended parades, enjoyed fireworks and had barbecues, some Texas families mourned the loved ones they lost or waited for those missing to finally be found safe.

Here’s what you should know about the impacts of severe weather in Texas:

The Houston Fire Department is assisting first responders nearly 300 miles away in Kerr County as rescues are underway in high flood waters.

Four members from the Tactical Deployment Unit and an engine will assist first responders, while another three firefighters will help the Texas A&M Task Force One.

“As we so often see help from around the state come to Houston when we face floods, we are proud to be able to support others in their time of need,” Houston Fire Chief Thomas Muñoz said Friday.

Helicopter rescues man Kerrville

00:18 • Source: CNN

Helicopter rescues man Kerrville

00:18

Video Credit: Lorena Guillén

Footage shows a helicopter rescue in Kerrville, Texas, near Howdy’s Restaurant, Bar and Grill, which is located along the Guadalupe River. A first responder and a person can be seen being carried away from a flooded area.

Mother of missing Camp Mystic camper Janie Hunt says she has not yet heard anything about her whereabouts after catastrophic flooding hit Kerr County on Friday.

“We are just praying,” Janie’s mother told CNN.

9-year-old Lainey Landry is also missing from the camp, according to her mother Natalie. She is “brave and sweet,” her mother tells CNN.

Janie Hunt

Texas Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz expressed condolences Friday for those who died as floods ripped through central Texas. In posts on X, the lawmakers said they are in contact with state and local officials to ensure they have access to rescue and recovery resources.

Cornyn wrote his staff has “been in touch with local officials & emergency responders, and are working to make sure all resources needed are made available.”

The White House has called several times Friday, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said.

President Donald Trump has made sure the message was sent that “whatever we need, we will have,” he said.

As over 500 people are out searching for missing people in Kerr County, Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick promised families of missing campers they would “do everything humanly possible to find your daughter.”

First responders are focusing on finding and rescuing residents Friday afternoon before launching recovery efforts, Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said.

“We are still actively trying to find those that are out and those that are needing assistance,” Rice said.

He said there are rescue teams at Camp Mystic, the girls’ summer camp where state officials said about 20 people remain unaccounted for.

“As we are going through the camps, we’re still trying to figure out where people are, what’s going on, and how to best serve them,” he said.