Texas floods killed 21 children, officials say, as some still missing

Officials in Texas have confirmed that at least 21 children died when severe flash floods hit the US state early on Friday.

Local authorities said on Sunday they were still searching for missing children from a Christian summer camp. Located near the Guadalupe River, the camp was accommodating more than 750 children when the floods struck after heavy rainfall.

“It, and the river running beside it, were horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I’ve seen in any natural disaster,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrote on X after visiting the aftermath at Camp Mystic.

In addition, 38 adults died state-wide in the flash floods, bringing the total death toll to at least 59, with some bodies yet to be identified, US officials said on Sunday.

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said earlier that the river had risen by almost 8 metres in a very short span of time in the early hours of the morning, while many victims were still asleep.

US President Donald Trump has issued a disaster declaration to enable additional federal aid for the affected area.

Local officials say more than 850 people were rescued unharmed from the area near the summer camp, while eight people were injured. Some people climbed trees to save themselves from being swept away by the floods, state authorities said.

Over the weekend, surrounding areas were left without electricity and internet.

Footage on US media showed cars being swept away, trees uprooted and houses under water. Some bodies were found in cars that had been washed away.

The heavy flooding since Friday morning took many people by surprise, as holidaymakers were using local rural areas to camp out by rivers over the July 4 long weekend.

Local authorities say it is not unusual for rivers to burst their banks in the area, which is popular for summer camps. However, the scale of these floods was exceptional.

The Guadalupe River is a confluence of two headwater streams, the Kerrville city manager, Dalton Rice, explained at a press conference on Saturday evening. It had rained heavily on both.

Before Kerrville, the waters then merged in the Guadalupe River, which led to the rapid rise in water levels.

Extreme rainfall has increased in Texas in recent decades due to climate change, Kristina Dahl, vice president of science at the non-profit US organization Climate Central, told CNN.

“As our climate warms, the atmosphere can hold more moisture, which makes it more likely to experience extreme rains like this that are occurring in these short periods of time,” Dahl told the broadcaster.

The many deaths in Texas now underline “how unprepared we are as a nation for disasters of this scale,” she said.