At least 32 people have died and at least 27 people remain missing from a Christian girls summer camp, Kerr County Sheriff Larry L. Leitha confirmed during a news briefing on Saturday (July 5) via NBC News.
The 32 casualties included 18 adults and 14 children, with five adults and three children still unidentified. Officials didn’t reveal any specific information about the victims publicly.
The death toll was previously reported to be 27 earlier in the day. More than 850 people have evacuated from Kerr County in south-central Texas amid floods that caused the Guadalupe River near Kerryville to surge by more than 20 to 26 feet, resulting in widespread damage and washouts.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called the storm an “extraordinarily catastrophe” and confirmed that rescue missions for the missing Christian camp girls would continue overnight.
“They will continue in the darkness of night, they will be taking place when the sun rises in the morning. They will be non-stop,” Abbott said during a press conference Friday night.
The all-girls sleep-away camp was evacuated overnight during the storms, however, several of the campers were reportedly left behind. Some of the girls were reportedly located and are stranded, however, dozens remain unaccounted for.
“That does not mean they’ve been lost. They could be in a tree. They could be out of communication. We’re praying for all those missing to be found alive,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick specified on Friday via the New York Post..
Staffers sent an email to families informing them of the incident and confirmed that the camp had lost power, water and WiFi during the incident.
“If you have not been personally contacted, then your daughter is accounted for,” the email, which was obtained by KSAT, stated. “We are working with search and rescue currently. The highway has washed away so we are struggling to get more help.”
Camp Mystic said the missing children varied in ages between 7 and 17.
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