27 girls missing as floods turn camp into nightmare

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP):

Texas parents frantically posted photos of their young daughters on social media with pleas for information as at least 27 campers from an all-girls summer camp were unaccounted for Friday after floods tore through central Texas overnight.

At least 43 people, including 15 children, died in Kerr County after a storm unleashed nearly a foot of rain just before dawn Friday and sent floodwaters gushing out of the Guadalupe River through the region known for its century-old summer camps. Many more are still missing, and authorities said about 850 people had been rescued so far.

State officials said 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a riverside Christian camp in Hunt, Texas, still were unaccounted for.

“I’m asking the people of Texas, do some serious praying,” Lt Gov Dan Patrick said. “On-your-knees kind of praying that we find these young girls.”

Kerr county Judge Rob Kelly said Saturday he didn’t know what kind of safety and evacuation plans the camps may have had.

“What I do know is the flood hit the camp first, and it came in the middle of the night,” he said. “I don’t know where the kids were. I don’t know what kind of alarm systems they had. That will come out in time. I do know those camp owners, and they are some of the finest, most conscientious people I know.”

The county itself does not have a warning system, Kelly said. He maintained that no one knew a flood of this magnitude was coming.

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the region on Thursday, and it sent out a series of flash-flood warnings in the early hours Friday.

By Friday afternoon, Texas Game Wardens had arrived at Camp Mystic and were evacuating campers. A rope was tied so girls could hang on as they walked across a bridge, the floodwaters rushing around their knees.

Camp Mystic said in an email to parents of the roughly 750 campers that if they have not been contacted directly, their child is accounted for.