July 10, 2025: Central Texas is reeling after one of the deadliest natural disasters in the state’s history. The catastrophic Texas flood on Friday has claimed the lives of more than 100 people, many of them children attending a Christian summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River.
The most heartbreaking toll came from Camp Mystic in Kerr County, where 27 young campers and counselors perished after a sudden torrent of water — described by a witness as a “pitch-black wall of death” — engulfed the area. Around 750 children were at the all-girls camp to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday when disaster struck.
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Beyond Camp Mystic, nearly 50 more fatalities have been reported across the county, with numbers expected to climb as rescue teams continue the grim task of recovering bodies.
Homes, vehicles, and businesses across the region were devastated by the extreme weather. AccuWeather estimates total damage and economic losses between $18 billion and $22 billion.
“Everyone in the community is hurting,” said Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice during a press conference on Sunday. “We are seeing bodies recovered all over, up and down.”
Warnings from the National Weather Service (NWS) began as early as Thursday afternoon, cautioning about possible flash flooding. But by the early hours of Friday, rivers had begun to overflow at an alarming pace. At 5:16 a.m., Kerrville police declared a “life-threatening event,” urging residents along the Guadalupe River to seek higher ground. Some, however, reported receiving the alerts too late.
The storm dumped several months’ worth of rain in mere hours. In Hunt, the community where Camp Mystic is located, gauges recorded 6.5 inches of rainfall in just three hours. Other areas reported up to 15 inches in a single day — more than a typical summer’s total.