Catastrophic floods leave at least 79 dead in Texas

A water wall almost 20 feet high entire communities across the country. Guadalupe River the past July 4The storm has left a scene of unprecedented destruction in Central Texas. Authorities have confirmed at least 79 deathsincluding 28 minorsand dozens of people are still missing.

The most affected areas include Kerrville and other locations in the Texas Hill Country. Only in the Kerr Countyare reported 68 confirmed deaths. Since the onset of the emergency, more than 500 rescuesmany by air.

Among the missing are 11 girls and one monitor from Camp Mysticwhich was completely washed away by the flood. The camp director, Richard "Dick" Eastlandwas found dead. He and his wife had been running it since 1974.

The governor of Texas issued a disaster declaration for more than a dozen counties, allowing immediate use of state resources. It has also activated federal aid for counties such as Kerr.

According to the National Weather Servicea series of stationary storms left a series of storms between 12 and 15 inches of rain in a few hours, causing a historic flooding of the Guadalupe River. At Kerrvillethe water level rose almost 20 feet in one hour; en Comfortthe increase was almost 27 feet in only 45 minutes.

The images show homes washed away, cars swept away, trees downed and tons of debris along the river. In many cases, only the foundations remained of the houses.

At Houstonthe community celebrated a vigil in honor of Greta Toranzoone of the missing girls from the camp. Authorities are asking families with missing persons to collaborate with DNA samples to facilitate identifications.

Other affected counties include Burnet, Travis, Kendall, Williamson and Tom Green. At San Angelothe rains left an affected area of more than 2 miles widewith more than 100 emergency calls in a single hour. At Bradymultiple flood rescues were also reported.

This is the most devastating flood event in nearly 40 years in this region. Rescue teams are working around the clock as communities try to recover from this unprecedented tragedy.

From Weather ChannelWe will continue to keep you informed.