(Houston) Devastating floods, caused by torrential rains, left at least 13 dead, including children, and around twenty missing in Texas in the southern United States, local authorities announced on Friday.
“For the moment, we have counted 13 deaths,” said Larry Leitha, the sheriff of the Kerr count, located in central Texas, in a press conference. There will probably be “more” victims “when it is all over,” added the official.
The deputy governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, had previously reported an assessment of six to ten dead, including children, as well as twenty missing.
We are without news of around twenty »children out of the 750 who participated in a summer camp for girls. This does not mean that they are among the victims, they could be in a tree or without communication.
The Deputy Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick
The deputy governor read in front of the press a message from the director of the summer camp saying that he had undergone “floods of a catastrophic level” and have “neither electricity, nor water, nor Wi-Fi”.
According to the authorities, the level of the Guadalupe river, which crosses the area, rose from “nearly 300 millimeters in 45 minutes” during the night, a third of the average annual precipitation of the county of Kerr.
Videos broadcast on social networks show houses and trees carried away by the flood.
Image Michael Moad, supplied by Reuters
In this image drawn from a video obtained from social media, we can see trees which are partially overwhelmed after storms caused massive floods because of the flood of the Guadalupe river in Kerrville, Texas, on July 4, 2025.
Other precipitation expected
An official of the County of Kerr, Rob Kelly, underlined the sudden nature of these floods which occurred around 4 am in this region however used to this type of phenomena.
“We have floods all the time. It is the most dangerous river valley in the United States, “he said. But “we had no reason to believe that it was going to be something like what happened”.
The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, shared on X a video showing the rescue of a refugee person at the top of a tree by a rescuer suspended from a helicopter, above tumultuous waters.
“Air rescue missions like this are carried out 24 hours a day. We will not stop until everyone has been found,” said Abbott.
About 500 rescuers and 14 helicopters were deployed, while the Texas National Guard and the United States Coast Guard sent reinforcements.
Photo Associated Press
Water rises following serious floods along the Guadalupe river, in the county of Kerr, Texas, Friday, July 4, 2025.
“The rain has calmed down, but we know that another wave is coming to,” warned the director of public security in Texas, Freeman Martin, stressing that precipitation was also expected in the areas of San Antonio and Austin.
According to the American ocean and atmospheric observation agency (NOAA), the level of the Guadalupe river rose suddenly during the night, from 2 meters to more than 9 meters, after precipitation.
The weather services have issued a flood alert for the County Center-South Center, calling on the inhabitants to avoid travel and those living near the Guadalupe river to go “to areas in height”.
In mid-June, at least ten people had perished due to floods in San Antonio, also in Texas, following torrential rains.
