(File Photo: Source for Photo: Volunteers search for missing people along the banks of the Guadalupe River after recent flooding on Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Flash floods in Texas killed more than 100 people over the Fourth of July holiday weekend and left others still missing, including girls attending a summer camp. The devastation along the Guadalupe River, outside of San Antonio, has drawn a massive search effort as officials face questions over their preparedness and the speed of their initial actions.

Here’s what to know about the deadly flooding, the colossal weather system that drove it in and around Kerr County and ongoing efforts to identify victims.

Massive rain hit at just the wrong time, in a flood-prone place

The floods grew to their worst at the midpoint of a long holiday weekend when many people were asleep.

The Texas Hill Country in the central part of the state is naturally prone to flash flooding due to the dry dirt-packed areas where the soil lets rain skid along the surface of the landscape instead of soaking it up. Friday’s flash floods started with a particularly bad storm that dropped most of its 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in the dark early morning hours.

After a flood watch notice midday Thursday, the National Weather Service office issued an urgent warning around 4 a.m. that raised the potential of catastrophic damage and a severe threat to human life. By at least 5:20 a.m., some in the Kerrville City area say water levels were getting alarmingly high. The massive rain flowing down hills sent rushing water into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise 26 feet (8 meters) in just 45 minutes.

Death toll is expected to rise and the number of missing is uncertain

In Kerr County, home to youth camps in the Texas Hill Country, searchers have found the bodies of 84 people, including 28 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said Monday afternoon. Fatalities in nearby counties brought the total number of deaths as of Monday afternoon to at least 104.

Ten girls and a counselor were still unaccounted for at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river.

For past campers, the tragedy turned happy memories into grief.

Beyond the Camp Mystic campers unaccounted for, the number of missing from other nearby campgrounds and across the region had not been released.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday had said that there were 41 people confirmed to be unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing.

Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said Monday he couldn’t give an estimate of the number of people still missing, saying only “it is a lot.”

Search-and-rescue crews at one staging area Monday said over 1,000 volunteers had been directed to Kerr County.

Officials face scrutiny over flash flood warnings

Survivors have described the floods as a “pitch black wall of death” and said they received no emergency warnings.

Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who lives along the Guadalupe River, said Saturday that “ nobody saw this coming.” Officials have referred to it as a “100-year-flood,” meaning that the water levels were highly unlikely based on the historical record.

Local officials have known for decades, however, that flooding posed serious a risk in the region, and a county government report last year warned the threat was worsening.

Officials also determined that another flood was likely in the next year and that “future worst-case flood events” could be more severe than those of the past, according to the report.

Additionally, officials have come under scrutiny about why residents and youth summer camps along the river were not alerted sooner than 4 a.m. or told to evacuate.

Rice said Monday that he did not immediately know if there had been any communication between law enforcement and the summer camps between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday. But Rice said various factors, including spotty cell service in some of the more isolated areas of Kerr County and cell towers that might have gone out of service during the weather, could have hindered communication.

Rice said officials want to finish the search and rescue and then review possible issues with cell towers, radios and emergency alerts.

Officials noted that the public can grow weary from too many flooding alerts or forecasts that turn out to be minor.

Kerr county officials said they had presented a proposal for a more robust flood warning system, similar to a tornado warning system, but that members of the public reeled at the cost.

Monumental clearing and rebuilding effort

The flash floods have erased campgrounds and torn homes from their foundations.

“It’s going to be a long time before we’re ever able to clean it up, much less rebuild it,” Kelly said Saturday after surveying the destruction from a helicopter.

Other massive flooding events have driven residents and business owners to give up, including in areas struck last year by Hurricane Helene.

President Donald Trump said he plans to visit the flood zone Friday.

AP photographers have captured the scale of the destruction, and one of Texas’ largest rescue and recover efforts.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: The Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Eternity C is seen in Split, Croatia, Jan. 30, 2023. (Sinisa Aljinovic via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels continued an hourslong attack Tuesday targeting a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in the Red Sea, authorities said, after the group claimed to have sunk another vessel in an assault that threatens to renew combat across the vital waterway.

The Greek-owned Eternity C remains “surrounded by small craft and is under continuous attack,” the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center warned Tuesday. At least two people on board the ship were reported to be hurt and two others missing.

The bulk carrier had been heading north toward the Suez Canal when it came under fire by men in small boats and by bomb-carrying drones Monday night. The security guards on board also fired their weapons. The European Union anti-piracy patrol Operation Atalanta and the private security firm Ambrey both reported those details.

While the Houthis haven’t claimed the attack, Yemen’s exiled government and the EU force blamed the rebels for the attack.

The Houthis separately attacked the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas on Sunday with drones, missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, forcing its crew of 22 to abandon the vessel. The rebels later said it sank in the Red Sea.

The two attacks and a round of Israeli airstrikes early Monday targeting the rebels raised fears of a renewed Houthi campaign against shipping that could again draw in U.S. and Western forces, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign.

The attacks come at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance, and as Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following American airstrikes targeting its most sensitive atomic sites during the Israel-Iran war in June.

The Houthi rebels have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. Their campaign has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually. Shipping through the Red Sea, while still lower than normal, has increased in recent weeks.

The Houthis paused attacks until the U.S. launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. That ended weeks later and the Houthis hadn’t attacked a vessel until this weekend, though they did continue occasional missile attacks targeting Israel.

(File Photo of Road Work Ahead Sign)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) PennDOT District 11 announced that both today and tomorrow, weather permitting, lane restrictions will occur on the ramp from southbound Route 65 to the Fort Duquesne Bridge. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on each day, a single-lane restriction that transitions into a two-lane restriction will be on the southbound Route 65 ramp to the lower deck of the Pittsburgh bridge. Ramps will stay open as inspection work will be done by Michael Baker International crews.

(File Photo of the American Red Cross logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania is asking people to donate either platelets or blood through the middle of summer. All blood types are needed. Everyone who gives from July 1st-14th, 2025 will get an exclusive pair of sunglasses with the Red Cross and goodr brands on them that can be personalized with an included sticker with your blood type. Everyone who gives from July 15th-31st, 2025 will receive an email with a Fandango Movie Reward. You can visit redcross.org for more information.

According to a release from the American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania, you can make an appointment by choosing one of these options and they also provide some things to remember when donating blood: You can visit RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App.

How to donate blood

Simply download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enable the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements. Blood and platelet donors can save time at their next donation by using RapidPass® to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, before arriving at the blood drive. To get started, follow the instructions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Blood Donor App.

(Source for Photo: -Mark Richardson, Keystone News Service, Credit for Photo: Courtesy of: (Jacob Lund/AdobeStock)

(Produced by Mack Richardson of Keystone News Service and Reported by Fara Siddiqi)

(Harrisburg, PA) Women who recently graduated from college are earning significantly less than their male counterparts. A new study reveals that women from Pennsylvania and other states who earned bachelor’s degrees within the past seven years earn an average of 18-percent less than similarly-educated men. Research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers finds that segregated work environments are the main reason for the disparity. Mary Gatta, a policy researcher and co-author of the report, says the problem is so prevalent that job analysts gave it a formal title. The Early Career Talent Survey interviewed 14-hundred professionals who graduated between 2017 and 2023, including about 500 men and 900 women. It found that the gap brings financial challenges for women, who are more likely to have student loans but less confident of their ability to repay them.

(File Photo of a City of Beaver Falls police car)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver Falls, PA) According to a release from the City of Beaver Falls Police Department, a forty-seven-year-old man was shot by twenty-year-old Jaden Stull of Beaver Falls on Friday in Beaver Falls. This occurred at the 300 block of 12th Street and an investigation confirms that Stull had a confrontation with the victim because of subjects throwing fireworks at a group of children there. Stull also shot the man around four times in the area of his thigh and shin. There are also rumors of a drive-by shooting incident  that are not found presently that have stemmed from this incident. Both Stull and the victim are in stabel condition. Stull has a warrant issued for his arrest and has multiple charges.

(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Two men from Pittsburgh have a list of charges after alleged abuse of animals and alleged illegal docking during the end of May at a home in Hazelwood on Blair Steet. The suspects are forty-eight–year-old Garrett Harper and thirty-four-year-old Ryan Chavers. Chavers is accused of yelling at dogs and hitting them with an object that is pipe-like in a video. According to a criminal complaint, nine Cane Corso dogs were found at the house when officers searched it in early June. Court papers confirm six of them had open wounds from docking. The charges for Harper and Chavers are aggravated cruelty to animals, neglect of animals and several counts of animal cruelty. There has not been a set date yet for the two men to appear in court.

(File Photo of the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Homestead, PA) Allegheny County Police Department detectives are investigating a shooting that occurred in Homestead on Friday that injured a fifteen-year-old boy. According to Allegheny County Police, around 10 p.m. on Friday night, the county 911 dispatch was notified of a shooting at the intersection of 11th Avenue and Amity Street. Officers found shell casings and shooting evidence. The victim that was shot in the upper arm came at about 1 a.m. on Saturday from a private car at a hospital. Call 1-833-ALL-TIPS if you have any information about this incident. 

(File Photo of Handcuffs)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A crowd gathered in the South Side of Pittsburgh over the weekend and as of Saturday morning, six people got arrested. Some in the crowd caused mischief and the incident involved police and items getting hit by some projectiles as well as some fireworks being thrown. According to a criminal complaint for a man accused of throwing fireworks, two police officers were injured after a man threw a lit firework at them, leaving them with slight or small burns. Police confirm projectiles were used against them by some people in the crowd, one officer was hit with a rock and vehicles from police were targeted with projectiles. Among the six people that were arrested was eighteen-year-old Kylie McCracken of Ambridge, twenty-year-old Delricco White of Duquesne and twenty-three-year-old Ronald Pelton of McKees Rocks.