What areas were worst affected by the Texas floods?
Deadly flash floods in Texas have now claimed at least 78 lives, including 28 children, following record rainfall over the Independence Day weekend. Kerr County, located in Texas Hill Country, was hit hardest, accounting for 68 of the total deaths. “It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through,” said Governor Greg Abbott, who toured the affected areas on Saturday. The flooding, triggered when the Guadalupe River burst its banks, also caused fatalities in Burnet, Tom Green, Travis, and Williamson counties. Officials expect the death toll to rise.
The disaster hit Camp Mystic particularly hard. The nearly 100-year-old Christian girls’ summer camp had 700 campers on site when the flooding occurred. According to Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha, 10 campers and one counselor remain missing. Inside damaged cabins, mud lines reached six feet up the walls, with furniture and personal belongings strewn in the muck.
How are authorities responding to the Texas flood disaster?
Rescue and recovery operations are underway across the affected regions. More than 850 people have been rescued so far, some pulled from trees. The U.S. Coast Guard has deployed helicopters and aircraft to assist. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was activated Sunday after President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration.
“We’re evacuating parts of the river right now because we are worried about another wall of river coming down in those areas,” said Nim Kidd, Chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. Unconfirmed reports of additional water surges have raised further concerns.
Is there controversy surrounding the federal disaster response?
Trump, who plans to visit Texas on Friday, expressed sympathy but sidestepped questions about whether cuts to the National Weather Service under his administration impacted the government’s ability to forecast the storm. “That water situation, that all is, and that was the Biden setup,” Trump claimed. “But I wouldn’t blame Biden for it, either. I would just say this is a 100-year catastrophe.”
Former NOAA Director Rick Spinrad said staffing shortages at the National Weather Service have made it harder to deliver timely and accurate forecasts. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acknowledged that the “moderate” flood warning issued on Thursday had not captured the severity of the storm.
At Camp Mystic, counselor Katharine Somerville described scenes of chaos. “Our cabins at the tippity top of hills were completely flooded with water. I mean, y’all have seen the complete devastation, we never even imagined that this could happen,” she said. Somerville confirmed her group of 13-year-old girls was safely evacuated using military trucks.
By Risper Akinyi
