Thunderstorms and torrential rain in the United States have triggered deadly flash flooding along the Guadalupe River in south-central Texas, killing at least 13 people and leaving more than 20 girls from a summer camp missing, according to local authorities.The US National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency on Thursday for parts of Kerr County, located in south-central Texas Hill Country, about 105km (65 miles) northwest of San Antonio, following heavy downpours measuring up to 300mm (1ft) of rain.
Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerville, the county seat, told reporters the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing any evacuation orders.
“This happened very quickly, over a very short period of time that could not be predicted, even with the radar,” Rice said. “This happened within less than a two-hour span.”
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said somewhere between six and 10 bodies had been found so far in the frantic search for victims. Meanwhile, during a news conference conducted at the same time as Patrick’s update, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha reported that there were 13 deaths from the flooding.
Patrick said 23 girls were listed as unaccounted for among more than 700 children who were at a …
