Camp Mystic has confirmed the deaths of 27 campers and counselors in the July Fourth flood. The death toll in the western Kerr County flood stands at 68, including 28 children. Follow along for new developments on the floods along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County and Central Texas.
Julian Ryan ‘died a hero,' family members say
A Kerr County man gave his life trying to save his family from the rising floodwaters on July 4, family members say.
Julian Ryan, 27, died after he injured himself breaking a window to create an escape route for his mother, his fiancé and their children, according to the family.
Ryan and his family were in their mobile home in Ingram when water from the Guadalupe River begin coming into their home, Ryan’s fiancé, Christinia Wilson, told KHOU-TV.
The family moved to a back room and called 911 as water rose to their knees. At about 6 a.m., Ryan punched his fist through a window to create an opening to escape, she said, and severed an artery in his arm. He “almost cut it clean off,” she said.
“I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it. I love y’all,” Ryan told his loved ones, she said.
Emergency responders recovered his body hours later after the waters subsided, Wilson said.
San Antonio, Austin, Hill Country under flood watch
A broad swath of Central and South Texas was under a National Weather Service flood watch Monday morning.
The watch area covers the Hill Country and the Interstate 35 corridor. It stretches from Uvalde, north to Rocksprings and east to the Austin area and includes the entire city of San Antonio. It also includes areas in Kerr and Gillespie counties that were struck by devastating flooding on July 4.
The advisory is in effect until 7 p.m. Monday.
The NWS is forecasting rainfall of 2 to 4 inches across this area, with the potential for downpours of up to 10 inches in some areas. The agency said "dangerous flash flooding" was possible in low-lying areas and along rivers and creeks.
"Difficult to pinpoint where exactly isolated heavy amounts will occur in the watch area," the weather service said. "Stay weather aware!"
'Raging torrent'
Though the Guadalupe River basin high in the Texas Hill Country is known for its flooding danger, the lack of a modern flood warning system sent campers and others in low-lying areas scrambling with little sounding of alarms.
Local emergency officials and the National Weather Service get their information from four gauges along the Guadalupe River upstream from Kerrville, where the flash flooding that killed at least 68 people occurred on July 4.
One of four gauges on the river failed, likely because of the wall of water that surged downstream in the early hours of Friday. In places, water rose 40-feet above the streambed. As crews raced to respond to low areas along the river, and campers and others fled, a review of the sensor data shows the river grew in height, width and speed with sudden force.
No design, dam or flood control project is going to solve the threat posed by the uppermost part of the river basin.
"You cannot engineer yourself around the Guadalupe," said Phil Bedient, the director of Rice University's SSPEED Center, who has spent decades designing flood protection and prediction systems. "This one is crying out for a warning system."
Camp Mystic confirms deaths of 27
Camp Mystic confirmed in a post on its website Monday morning the deaths of 27 campers and counselors.
The Christian girls' camp, located near Hunt in western Kerr County, on the south fork of the Guadalupe River, was inundated by floodwaters early on the morning of July 4.
In the web post, the camp said it is working with local and state authorities who are "tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls" and is grateful for the outpouring of community support.
"We ask for your continued prayers, respect and privacy for each of our families affected," the post said. "May the Lord continue to wrap His presence around all of us."