The Guadalupe River overflowed at dawn in the center of Texas, dragging houses, cars and lives. At least 27 people died, nine were children. Dozens remain missing – among them, several girls from a Christian holiday camp. The state is still on alert, with more rain on the way
In the early hours of Friday, the Guadalupe River broke banks and maps, climbing eight meters in just 45 minutes. The number of dead is already in 27. Among them, nine children. And there are still dozens of missing. It was in the heart of Texas that the earth gave in to water – and the water returned nothing.
The forecasts did not predict. The alert system did not warn. Rob Kelly, maximum responsible for Kerr County, admitted that “there was no local warning.” When the rain fell, it fell hard. When the river went up, it went up in silence. And when everything was flooded, it was late.
The strength of the flood pushed cars, pulled trees, destroyed roads. One of the main roads of access to the region has disappeared. The communications network collapsed at various points. Houses were dragged, electricity failed, water supply too.
On Saturday morning, rescue teams ran miles of margins and floating rubble. Helicopters, salvator swimmers, national guard, coastal guard and local authorities tried to find survivors. The numbers are vast: 850 evacuated people, 237 rescued with air asses, at least eight injured, and dozens still to locate.
The devastation extends to the east, where new fronts of rain threaten to repeat the scenario. More than 30,000 people are on the alert of sudden floods in various zones of Texas Central. The torrent who was born in Kerr County continues to go down the course of the river.
The girls of Camp Mystic
Among the missing are more than two dozen girls who participated in a Christian holiday field – Camp Mystic, founded in 1926. The institution, which welcomed about 750 young people, saw part of its facilities being destroyed by the flood. There are reports of girls floating in the river to another field, miles away.
But Camp Mystic is just a piece. The deaths did not focus on a single place. The victims were at home, in cars, in camps.
The Sheriff Larry Leitha confirmed on Saturday that most of the dead has already been identified – but there are still seven unnamed bodies, including a child. The authorities did not disclose any identity for now.
The tragedy remembers, to the elders, the flood of July 17, 1987, when the same Guadalupe river rose with violence. But now, in 2025, catastrophe is amplified by other means: social networks carry images of disaster, makeshift rescue videos, requests for help, photographs of missing.
The response of political power came quickly, but without comfort. Vice President Jd Vance called him a “incomprehensible tragedy.” The first lady Melania Trump said she was “praying” for the affected. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick warned of the continuity of the risk, with more rain scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, “and a vast area of the state under threat.”
The water will retreat. But it will leave behind broken families, redesigned maps, and an increasingly difficult question to ignore: how, in a state with millions invested in technology, no one saw it in time? For now, you are looking for bodies and absences.
