At least 24 people have died, and the search for more than 20 people are missing from a girls summer camp continues after flash flooding devastated parts of Texas. In an update Friday night, local officials said 237 people had been rescued in the floods, including 167 people who were brought to safety by helicopter.
Gov. Greg Abbott called the event an "extraordinary catastrophe" and promised search-and-rescue missions would be nonstop.
The water from the flooded Guadalupe River swept into Kerr County and other areas in Central Texas around 4 a.m. Friday after heavy overnight rains, authorities said. In the town of Comfort, the river surged as much as 22 feet in just half an hour Friday morning, breaking a record that had stood for decades. The National Weather Service said Friday afternoon that parts of Kerr County received a little more than 10 inches of rain over 24 hours.
Between 23 to 25 people from Camp Mystic in Hunt, about two hours west of Austin, were unaccounted for, Kerr County Sheriff Larry L. Leitha Jr. said in an update last night. The camp for girls ages 7 to 17 was hosting 750 children this week. Helicopters ferried dozens to safety before Texas Game Wardens said in the evening that they were able to reach the camp with vehicles to bring out others.
In Kerrville, one survivor told NBC News affiliate WOAI, "We lost everything. A lot of people lost everything." He added: "Nobody expected this." Another man told the station that his brother's house was swept away in the flood, along with the brother, his wife and their two children still missing.
The Department of Homeland Security said the U.S. Coast Guard and FEMA have been activated. President Donald Trump called the floods "terrible" and said the federal government would help, when asked last night about the situation.
Flood warnings throughout the state remain in place through the weekend.
Here's what else we know.
