Devastating Floods Kill Nearly 100 in Central Texas

At least 95 people are confirmed dead, and dozens remain missing following catastrophic floods that swept through central Texas over the weekend, with the tragedy hitting especially hard at Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp along the Guadalupe River, where 27 campers and counsellors lost their lives. Ten campers and one counsellor are still unaccounted for.

Emergency responders continue to search the region for survivors, with officials warning that the final death toll could still rise. The mayor of Kerrville, Joe Herring Jr., where at least 75 of the deaths occurred, said he received no prior warning about the torrential rains that led to the disaster.

In the wake of the disaster, U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has called for a federal watchdog investigation into staffing shortages at the National Weather Service (NWS), questioning whether the lack of personnel may have delayed flood warnings that could have saved lives.

“The roles left unfilled are not marginal, they’re critical,” Schumer stated in a letter to the Commerce Department’s Inspector General. “We must do everything possible to provide answers as to why the community was not alerted sooner.”

The NWS offices responsible for monitoring the Guadalupe River region reportedly issued multiple flood watches and warnings but have been operating with reduced staff following cuts under the previous administration.

The scale and intensity of the flooding highlight a troubling trend: climate scientists say extreme rainfall events are becoming more frequent as global temperatures rise, largely due to fossil fuel emissions. Central Texas—a region crisscrossed by rivers and prone to flash floods—remains particularly vulnerable.