(Kerrville) Emergency teams suspended their research on Sunday morning to find the victims of catastrophic floods in the center of Texas, following new alerts announcing that additional rains would again cause floods.
It is the first time that a new wave of strong bad weather has been interrupting research since the floods at the beginning of the month.
Ingram firefighters ordered the research teams to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe river corridor, in Kerr county, until further notice, warning high risk of sudden flood. The research and rescue teams have been looking for the victims who have disappeared in the floods since the weekend of July 4.
Research and rescue operations are expected to resume on Monday, depending on the river flow, said Brian Lochte, firefighters’ spokesperson.
“We work with a few teams, hydroglisseurs and research and rescue boats,” said Mr. Lochte.
Photo Eric Gay, Associated Press
A woman walks in the rain along a closed street near the Guadalupe river, on July 13, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas.
While heavy rains fell on Sunday, the meteorologists of the national meteorological service warned that the Guadalupe river could go up to almost 4.6 meters by Sunday afternoon, about 1.5 meters above the flood level, which would be enough to submerge the bridge of the 39 highway near the community of Hunt.
“Many secondary roads and bridges are flooded and very dangerous,” said a warning of the meteorological service.
The destructive and rapid waters of the Guadalupe river increased by 8 meters in just 45 minutes before dawn of July 4, carrying houses and vehicles.
Since then, the emergency services have used helicopters, boats and drones to search for victims and rescue people blocked in trees and camps isolated by roads carried away by waters.
Photo Eric Gay, Associated Press Archives
Research and rescue teams rake the banks of the Guadalupe river after a sudden flood swept the region on July 12, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas.
The floods devastated the Hill Country region, Texas. The banks and hills of the county of Kerr are full of vacation chalets, campsite and holiday colonies for young people, including the Mystic camp.
Located in a low altitude area along the Guadalupe river, known as “Sudden flood zone”, this Centenary Christian Summer Camp reserved for girls has lost at least 27 camper and monitors, as well as its longtime owner, Dick Eastland.
The flood was much more serious than the centennial phenomenon provided for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to experts, and spread so quickly in the middle of the night that she took many people in a county without alert system.
The amount of rain was impressive. The former chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Ryan Maue, independent meteorologist, calculated on July 5 that the storm had poured 120 billion gallons of water on the county of Kerr, who was the hardest hit.
This summer, the sudden floods caused by heavy rains have wreaked havoc elsewhere in Texas. In San Antonio, in June, more than 18 centimeters of rain fell in a few hours, which required dozens of rescues in the face of the rapid rise in waters and left at least 13 dead.
