Texas families plead for information on more than 20 girls missing from summer camp after floods

KERRVILLE Texas AP Texas parents frantically posted photos of their young daughters on social media with pleas for information as more than campers from an all-girls summer camp were unaccounted for Friday after floods tore through the state s south-central region overnight At least people were dead Friday and dozens missing after months worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours on Texas Hill Country Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha announced The flood-prone region is dotted with century-old summer camps that draw thousands of kids annually from across the Lone Star State Lt Gov Dan Patrick declared about girls attending Camp Mystic a Christian camp along the Guadalupe River in Hunt Texas were unaccounted for Friday afternoon Search teams were working to conduct helicopter and boat rescues in the fast-moving floodwaters I m asking the people of Texas do various serious praying this afternoon on-your-knees kind of praying that we find these young girls Patrick announced Dozens of families shared in local Facebook groups that they received devastating phone calls from safety administrators informing them that their daughters had not yet been located among the washed-away camp cabins and downed trees Certain were waiting to hear if their children could be evacuated by helicopter Nine rescue teams helicopters and drones were being used in the search Patrick noted Camp Mystic announced in an email to parents that if they have not been contacted directly their child is accounted for Safety authorities disclosed there were roughly campers At an elementary school in nearby Ingram that was being used as a reunification center more than a hundred people milled around a courtyard with hopes of seeing their loved one step out of buses dropping off those who had been evacuated One young girl wearing a Camp Mystic T-shirt stood in a puddle in her white socks sobbing in her mother s arms as she rubbed her hands together and watched the buses arrive Plenty of families hoped to see loved ones who had been at campgrounds and mobile home parks in the area Camp Mystic sits on a strip known as flash flood alley reported Austin Dickson CEO of the Region Foundation of the Texas Hill Country a charitable endowment that is collecting donations to help nonprofits responding to the calamity When it rains water doesn t soak into the soil Dickson disclosed It rushes down the hill Camp leaders explained they are without power Wi-Fi and running water and the highway leading to the camp has washed away Two other camps on the river Camp Waldemar and Camp La Junta revealed in Instagram posts that all campers and staff there were safe Schoenbaum announced from Salt Lake City