By Collin Eaton and Ginger Adams Otis

KERRVILLE, Texas -- The search for those swept away by punishing flash floods in Central Texas over the holiday took on new urgency Sunday, as the death toll climbed above 50 and roughly two dozen girls from a private summer camp remained among the missing.

Rescuers combing the swollen banks of the Guadalupe River were holding out hope that survivors might still be found. The potential of more bad weather Sunday also loomed over ground and air operations. The National Weather Service warned of more rainfall and slow-moving thunderstorms that could create flash floods in the already saturated areas in Texas Hill Country.

The majority of the 51 fatalities thus far were recorded along Guadalupe River basin in Kerr County. Four victims were found Saturday in Travis County, which includes Austin, and 13 people were missing. Another victim was found in Kendall County, an official there said. In San Angelo, Texas, a 62-year-old woman was found several blocks from her submerged car. Another two victims died in Burnet County, where an additional seven people were still missing, according to officials.

Of the 43 dead in Kerr County, 28 were adults and 15 were children, according to the Kerr County Sheriff's Office.

There was still an unknown number of people missing, and 27 people, mainly girls, missing from Camp Mystic, a well-known summer camp located on the Guadalupe River.

The popular river basin had been crowded with families and campers ready to enjoy the July Fourth holiday when pounding rain brought about catastrophic flash floods just before dawn Friday that wiped out homes, carried away vehicles and smashed into RVs and summer cabins.

The National Weather Service had warned of potential flash flooding in parts of Central Texas as early as Thursday afternoon. Just after 1 a.m. Friday, those alerts ticked up in urgency, and by 4 a.m., alerts of flash floods went out. At 5:34 a.m., as a wave of water surged through the river, forecasters alerted Kerr County and other areas that dangerous flash floods were happening. But many didn't make it to safety.

In nearby Kerrville, families and friends of the missing huddled at the Calvary Temple Church Saturday night. Some came in to jot down their contact information and leave it with the reunification organizers. Others waited outside, sitting on benches that overlooked the parking lot's entrance, hoping vehicles carrying their loved ones would cross the pavement.

As the sun went down, Hailey Chavarria, a 28-year-old teacher from Austin, paced. Five of her family members -- her mother, stepfather, uncle, aunt and cousin -- had disappeared from a local campsite during Friday's storms, she said. She had been up until 3 a.m. Saturday trying to find them at various reunification sites. Her fiancé and others searched the banks of the Guadalupe River with flashlights.

"It's very confusing. We've been told, 'go here, go here, no, go here,'" she said. "And they're telling us that they can't tell us anything."

Her missing family -- mom Shellie Crossland; stepfather Cody Crossland; uncle Joel Ramos; aunt Tasha Ramos; and cousin Kyndall Ramos -- were all from Midland, Texas. They were camping in the Kerr region when the flooding began, she said.

A truck owned by her mother and stepfather had been found empty with their belongings inside. Another of Chavarria's cousins on the camping trip, Devyn Smith of Midland, was found by rescuers clinging to a tree, shouting for help as water rushed by. She was rescued more than a dozen miles away from the family's campsite, Chavarria said. She is recovering in a nearby hospital.

She said her family had received a call saying 17 survivors would be transported to Calvary Temple Church, but details have been scant.

It's "frustrating as somebody who's looking for, I mean, my whole family, almost," she said.

At least one of the flash-flood victims from Camp Mystic was identified by Saturday night. Sarah Marsh, 8 years old, was a camper from Mountain Brook, Ala., according to the city's mayor. Camp Mystic's longtime director, Dick Eastland, was also among the victims, according to a family member and Texas Rep. August Pfluger, who said Eastland "poured his life" into the camp for decades.

Another girls' summer camp, Heart O' the Hills, said it was fortunate to be between sessions when the flooding occurred, but said its director and longtime co-owner, Jane Ragsdale, had lost her life. "We at the camp are stunned and deeply saddened," said a note on the camp's website. She "was exactly the type of strong, joyful woman that the camp aimed to develop with the girls entrusted to us each summer."

Write to Collin Eaton at collin.eaton@wsj.com and Ginger Adams Otis at Ginger.AdamsOtis@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 06, 2025 10:14 ET (14:14 GMT)

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