July 5 (UPI) -- The death toll from central Texas flooding rose to at least 43, including 15 children, as rescuers continue searching for 27 missing girls at a camp on Saturday.
Torrential rain triggered flash flooding in Kerr County, which is 65 miles north of San Antonio and 101 miles west of Austin, on Friday morning.
On Saturday, the families of four girls at Mystic Camp confirmed to CNN their children died.
The mother of a missing Janie Hunt, 9, told CNN that her daughter died. She had spoken with CNN on Friday, saying she hadn't heard anything about her daughter's whereabouts.
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Later Saturday, the families of Sarah Marsj, Lila Bonner and Renee Smajstrla said they died.
"In the midst of our unimaginable grief, we ask for privacy and are unable to confirm any details at this time," Bonner's family said about their 9-year-old child. "We ache with all who loved her and are praying endlessly for others to be spared from this tragic loss."
Alabama Sen. Katie Britt posted on Facebook that she's "heartbroken over the loss of Sarah Marsh, and we are keeping her family in our thoughts and prayers during this unimaginable time."
Shawn Salta told CNN her 8-year-old niece died.
Camp Mystic said in an email to parents obtained by NBC News that if they hadn't been contacted directly, their child is accounted for.
The camp, which was founded 99 years ago, is a place for girls to grow spiritually and "develop outstanding personal qualities and self-esteem," according to its website.
About 750 children were at Camp Mystic for Christian girls when the Guadalupe River rose more than 20 feet in two hours. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the trouble finding them "does not mean they are lost."
Photos taken on Saturday show a camp missing one entire side and debris strewn about, including a child's stuffed animal.
Authorities contacted 18 camps along the Guadalupe River and Camp Mystic was the only camp with people still unaccounted for. Early Friday, 107 game wardens and an aviation group tried to access the camp, according to officials, finally were able to enter the camp at midday to start rescuing children.
Jane Ragsdale, Heart O' the Hills' director and co-owner, died in the flooding, according to an announcement Friday from the camp. She was described as a "woman who influenced countless lives and was the definition of strong and powerful."
"Thankfully, camp was not in session, and most of those who were on camp at the time have been accounted for and are on high ground," the message said about the camp, which is located along the Guadalupe River. "Rescue efforts are ongoing throughout the county as many people have been impacted by this devastation."
Wyndham Etheridge, 14, was staying at Camp La Junta in Hunt, Texas when flooding hit the area.
Etheridge and his fellow campers "couldn't really go anywhere because around us there were streams, really strong streams converging and we didn't want to get swept away because of all the runoff from the mountain," he said.
"So at some point we just decided ... we could go to bed for a little bit, but then we woke up again to more water," he said.
His parents received a text message from the camp the campers were accounted for. They picked up their child last night.
Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice told people to brace for the worst.
"People need to know, today will be a hard day," Dalton Rice, his voice wavering, told reporters on Saturday.
Rice, who is city manager of about 25,000 residents, said he didn't know how many other people in the area could be missing.
He explained the conditions in the hard-hit areas are rough.
"We did start boots-on-ground operations about 8 a.m. this morning, and started about southwest of Hunt, so southwest of Camp Mystic," Rice said. "These folks will be traveling very difficult terrain, up through Ingram, and we're going to start getting information."
Kerr County Sheriff Larry L. Leitha said they will continue to search for "every single person" missing in the floods.
"Tragic incidents like this affect us all. This community is strong and will continue to pull together during this tragic time," Leitha said. "We have been humbled by the outpouring of support; we are very appreciative everyone that's stepped up to help us."
More than 850 people have been evacuated or rescued, including eight with injuries, the sheriff said Saturday.
Some were rescued from trees.
Deployed were at least 14 helicopters, 12 drones and several thousand rescuers, from a variety of agencies and volunteers, with three more helicopters on the way. Personnel were also sent Saturday to help manage evacuee shelters.
The Coast Guard also will deploy fixed-wing aircraft.
Ground crews plan to search additional areas as waters recede, Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said Saturday.
Kerrville has launched a relief fund to support local response, relief and recovery efforts.
Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, whose district includes Kerr County, said Saturday: "I got a call and an update this morning, my kids' school. There was one of their schoolmates was missing, and one of the kids, she was on a mattress for two, three hours in the middle of the night. That little girl has since been reunited with her mother."
He added: "They're the kind of blessings that we should be celebrating while we're also mourning the loss of life."
Ty Badon, looking for his 21-year-old daughter and her friends, told CNN he and his son found a young boy's body along the swollen river.
"I thought it was a mannequin," he said.
Rainfall totals, forecast
In just a few hours overnight into Friday, parts of Central Texas had a month's worth of rain, including Hunt near Kerrville with about 6.5 inches in three hours early Friday.
Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci posted on X that rainfall in the area totaled more than 10 inches, but "annual rainfall for this region is about 28-32 inches.
"Imagine 4 months' worth of rain falling in a 6-hour window," Cappucci said.
On Saturday, between 2 and 4 inches of additional rain are expected, with isolated amounts up to 10 inches, the weather service in Austin and San Antonio said.
A flood watch was in effect in the region until at least 7 p.m. CDT Saturday.
"Dangerous and life-threatening flooding and heavy rain continues this morning over Burnet, western Williamson, and northwestern Travis counties," the weather service posted on X. "A **Flash Flood Emergency** remains in effect for these areas. Seek higher ground if near a flooded creek or stream."
The weather service has frequently issued flash flood warnings for different areas.
The Hill Country, which is west of San Antonio and Austin, is known for flooding.
"The hills are steep, and the water moves quickly when it floods," Hatism Sharif, at the University of Texas at San Antonio, wrote Saturday. This is a semi-arid area with soils that don't soak up much water, so the water sheets off quickly and the shallow creeks can rise fast."
The San Gabriel River at Georgetown South Fork, about 30 miles north of Austin, is expected to crest at major flood stage near 30 feet on Saturday.
In Kerrville, heavy rain swelled two forks of the river before they converge and flow "through the city," City Manager Dalton Rice said at a news conference Friday.
Rice said the river swelled from 7 feet to 29 feet during the night.
Rice said he had been jogging along the Guadalupe River trail at 3:30 a.m. and there was only light rain.
"Within an hour and a half, [the river] had already risen over 25 feet," he said. "Within a matter of minutes, it was up to 29 feet."
"We had to drive over live power lines to get out of here because the only other way we could go was underwater," Candice Taylor told KENS-TV.
Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said Friday night that the National Weather Service forecast "did not predict the amount of rain that we saw."
The NWS issued a flash flood warning on Thursday afternoon for Kerr County.
"Everything was done to give them a heads up that you could have heavy rain, and we're not exactly sure where it's going to land," Patrick said.
"Obviously as it got dark last night, we got into the wee morning of the hours, that's when the storm started to zero in."
Emergency declaration
Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday issued a disaster declaration for the following counties: Bandera, Comal, Concho, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimball, Llano, Mason, McCullough, Menard, Reeves, San Saba and Tom Green.
On Saturday, he added six more counties for a total of 20 counties.
The declaration 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
President Donald Trump plans to sign the declaration, which authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to free up additional resources to assist with the response to the hurricane.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who appeared with Abbott and other officials, including Sen. Tom Coryn, at a briefing Saturday in Kerrville, said Trump will honor the declaration.
She said the president is "grieving" and committed to using federal resources to help.
"Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy," Trump posted on Truth Social. "Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS."
Noem said she plans to visit the Mystic camp and tell Trump what she saw.
Roy, who appeared at the briefing, said he spoke with Noem and Trump.
"Yesterday, I was on the phone with the president, with the secretary ... but I couldn't even get the conversation out with the secretary, trying to explain to her what we were dealing with," Roy said during a news conference today.
"That doesn't happen often for me, but it took me a while to collect myself to even be able to tell her what we were looking at."
