SAN ANTONIO – Parts of Central Texas experienced what officials described as a “catastrophic flooding event,” where fatalities have been confirmed.
Officials with the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office reported the flooding event along the Guadalupe River, following more than six inches of overnight rain in the area, located far north of San Antonio toward the Hill Country.
This is a catastrophic flooding event in Kerr County. We can confirm fatalities but will not release further information...
Posted by Kerr County Sheriff's Office on Friday, July 4, 2025
According to our sister station, KSAT, authorities have urged residents to shelter in place, and those living near creeks and streams should move to higher ground.
“This may be a once-in-a-lifetime flood” for the county, KCSO spokesperson Clint Morris told KSAT, adding it’s “an extremely active scene, countywide” and that they’ve responded to multiple calls for high-water rescues. People should avoid traveling west of Ingram near the Guadalupe River.
KSAT also reports the City of Kerrville has issued a disaster declaration, activating the City Emergency Management Plan due to the severity.
Sources tell KPRC 2 that Houston area first responders and firefighters are responding as part of Texas Task Force 1 to help with the flooding in central Texas.
Several summer camps are located along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick addressed the situation at Camp Mystic near Hunt and confirmed roughly 20 campers remain unaccounted for but said that number could change as crews continue working through the area. We have a separate article listed above on Patrick’s statements and what we know specifically at Camp Mystic.
Saturday morning update:
The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office updated the public on the situation Saturday morning.
As of now, 27 people have been confirmed dead. Of the 27, 18 are adults and nine are children.
Six adults and one child recovered have not been identified at this time. Authorities say they are not able to release information on the deceased at this time.
Over 850 uninjured people, and eight injured people have been evacuated.
First responders continue to conduct rescue and recovery operations across the area.
9 p.m. press conference information:
Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other officials gave new, updated information on search and rescue operations Friday evening.
Officials say there are now 24 confirmed fatalities in Kerr County as a result of the flooding. There is also a fatality reported in Kendall County, but officials are still investigating whether that was connected to the flooding or not.
236 people have either been rescued or evacuated since the flood hit. Of those, 167 were by helicopters that have responded to assist.
Authorities do not have an estimate of how many people are missing at this time due to the holiday weekend and just how many people were in the area. They are still working to determine an exact number. They did confirm between 23-25 people are missing from Camp Mystic near Hunt.
Early this morning, 107 Texas Game Wardens started trying to get access to Camp Mystic. They were able to make it to the camp shortly after midday and started removing children from the camp.
Authorities says no other camps along the river had any campers unaccounted for.
Afternoon press conference information
In an afternoon press conference, Kerr County Sheriff Larry L. Leitha confirms right now, there are 13 fatalities from the flooding in the county, but said there could potentially be more. There are also still “several” people unaccounted for. He did not give an exact number, but said this will probably be a couple day process.
He also said it is still raining and they aren’t quite sure when exactly it will stop, but hopefully it shouldn’t last much longer.
He said if anyone needs help finding or connecting with loved ones, they should call the Red Cross at 1-800-733-2767.
“This situation has evolved very quickly and is actively still going on,” said Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice.
Rice also explained more about what exactly happened that led to such a catastrophic flood event.
“The north and south fork, which lead into the Guadalupe (River) hit peaks at about 3 a.m. give or take.....I was on the river trail at that time and everything was fine. Within a hour and a half to two hour period, it was up almost to the bridge. It rose very quickly, very significantly, we even had crews out just getting ready for the Fourth of July event and we could not anticipate this. Despite flood warnings, despite everything going on, there are some things that happen very fast, when those two forks converge, it created obviously a large flood event.”
Rice said this caught a lot of people off-guard, with many being asleep when the floodwaters moved down the river.
“We are still currently actively rescuing, so we are not quite into recovery mode yet, we are still actively trying to find those that are out and those needing assistance,” Rice said.
He urges people to please stay off the roads so you do not potentially become a hinderance to emergency crews conducting search and rescue operations.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo released a statement on Facebook, saying five of those who are missing are confirmed to be from Harris County.
“Today, my heart aches for our neighbors in Kerr County. The violent surge of flood waters is something we are all too familiar with. I pray that emergency personnel are able to promptly find the young girls missing from Camp Mystic. Our Office of Emergency Management is ready to fulfill any requests for support. Please continue to pray for the missing. Harris County mourns the victims—5 of whom have been confirmed from Houston/Harris County. All of Texas is impacted by this tragic event," Hidalgo said.
KPRC 2’s Robert Arnold is on his way to the Kerrville area to get more on the situation. He stopped at the Buc-cees in Luling where multiple Houston area first responders were seen, including units from Fort Bend, Montgomery County EMS, Humble EMS, Lake Jackson EMS. and Colorado County EMS. They told KPRC 2 they are headed to San Antonio and will spend the night there and will be given assignments to help in the morning.
The United Cajun Navy also says Saturday, they will be posting a call to action for volunteers in the area along with what to bring and where to meet for those who want to help.