Kerville, Texas (AP) – Texas Hill Country declined in heavy rainfall months in a few hours, killing at least 13 people and many more for Friday, including those who were involved 20 girls participating in a summer campAs the search teams rescued boats and helicopters in rapidly growing flood waters.
Desperate arguments saw social media as a will, as the loved ones sought any information about those caught in the flood area. Central Ker County received at least 10 inches (25 cm) of rain overnight, due to which Flood flood Of Gwadalup River.
Officials insisted that the situation is still developing and the death toll could change, rescue operations are going on for the disappearance of an unspecified number. Lieutenant village Dan Patrick said that six to 10 bodies had been found so far. At the same time, Ker County Sheriff Larry Litha reported that 13 people died in the flood.
Patrick said during a news conference, “Some are adults, some have children.” “Again, we don’t know where those bodies came from.”
Chief elected officer Judge Rob Kelly in Ker County said that the officials were still working to identify those who died.
Kelly said during a news conference, “Most of them, we don’t know who they are.”
Argument for information after flash flood
On the office Facebook page of Ker County Sheriff, people pleaded to help their loved ones find and posted their pictures. Patrick said that at least 400 people who helped in the response were on the ground. Nine rescue teams, 14 helicopters and 12 drones were being used in the search, and Patrick said some people were being protected from trees.
Out of about 23, about 750 girls, the camps were included in the pelters, who were unaware for Friday, Patrick said.
The search crew “we can find whatever we can,” he said.
According to the meteorologist Bob Fogirting with the Austin/San Antonio office of the National Weather Service, in the Hunt, where the Guadalup forks, a river gauge recorded a 22 -foot growth (6.7 meters) in about two hours. Fogirting said that the gauge failed after recording 29 and one and a half feet (9 meters) levels.
“Water is moving so fast, you are not going to recognize how bad it is to you,” said to forget.
‘Death Pitch Black Wall’
In Ingram, Erin Burges poured water from the river directly from the river to wake up for thunder and rain at 3:30 pm, he said. He described an hour clinging to a tree and waited for the water to be left behind enough so that they could take the hill to the neighbor’s house.
“My son and I floated on a tree where we were hung on it, and my lover and my dog went away. He was lost for a while, but we found them,” he said.
His 19 -year -old son, Burges said: “Thankfully he is longer than 6 feet long. This is the only thing that saved me, hanging on him.”
Matthew Stone, a 44 -year -old Kerville’s 44 -year -old, said that the police came to knock on the doors at 5:30 am, but they had not received any emergency warning on their phone.
“We did not get any emergency warning. Nothing,” Stone said. Then: “A pitch black wall of death.”
Stone said that the police used his paddle boat to help save the neighbor. Stone said that he and the rescue team thought they “help someone!” Could not see anyone with water.
‘Everything was done to give them a head’
The forecast called for rain, in which the flood watch was upgraded for at least 30,000 people overnight. Fogratha said that in some places yoga grew more than expectations.
Patrick said that heavy rains and the possibility of flood cover a large area.
Patrick said, “Everything was done to give them a head that you can rain heavily, and we are not sure where it is going to land.” “Obviously, as it got dark last night, we came in the morning of hours when the storm started getting zero.”
Asked how people were informed in Ker County so that they could get for safety, Kelly said, “We don’t have a warning system.”
When reporters emphasized why more precautions were not taken, he replied: “The rest assured, no one knew that such a flood was coming.”
“We keep floods all the time,” he said. “It is the most dangerous river valley in the United States.”
Popular tourism sector is a flood threat
It is in a region of Texas known as “Flash Flood Elle”, as Austin Dixon, CEO of the Community Foundation, Texas Hill Country, said, who was collecting donations to help non -profit institutions responding to the disaster, said Austin Dixon.
“When it rains, the water does not absorb in the soil,” Dixon said. “It runs down from the hill.”
However, the river tourism industry hill is an important part of the country’s economy, Dixon said. Well -known, centenary old summer camps bring the entire Texas and children of the country, Dixon said. There are several river houses and cabins for rent between Hunt and Ingram.
“This is usually a very quiet river with a truly beautiful clear blue water that people attract from generations,” Dixon said.
Deaths in New Jersey are guilty of thunderstorms
The severe weather in the form of floods in Texas went through the Central New Jersey, where at least three deaths were convicted.
According to the city’s Facebook post, there were two men in the plainfield, who died after a vehicle fell on a tree, traveling during the height of a storm.
The city canceled its employed July fourth parade, concert and fireworks show.
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Fingerhehat reported from Des Mine, Iowa. Associated Press reporters Adrian Sanz, Tennessi, Hannah Sconebam in Salt City and Norvich, in Connecticut contributed to Memphis.
Hannah Fingerhat and Jim Vartuno, Associated Press