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At Least 27 Dead, More Than 20 Missing In Texas Floods. At Least 27 Dead, More Than 20 Missing In Texas Floods; Rescue Crews Worked "Nonstop" Overnight To Find Flood Survivors. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired July 05, 2025 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[12:00:57]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we continue to follow breaking news out of Central Texas. At this hour, a desperate search and rescue effort continues for dozens of missing people, including 27 young girls from a summer camp. This after powerful flooding swept through Central Texas on Friday.

And this morning, another round of heavy rainfall triggered more flash flood emergencies in the region. Officials say at least 27 people have died. That death toll includes nine other children and more than 230 people have been rescued and 18 other adults were also killed.

Among the victims, a nine-year-old girl by the name of Janie Hunt. Her mother confirming to CNN today that the young girl who was among the missing from Camp Mystic has died. Also confirmed killed Jane Ragsdale. She was a director at another girls camp, Heart O' the Hills. It wasn't in session at the time, but Ragsdale is described as the heart and soul of that camp.

And we've got a team of correspondents and meteorologists also covering these fast moving developments. Let's begin with CNN's Ed Lavandera in Hunt, Texas. Ed, what is the situation there?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well, we are on the road that takes you in to Hunt, Texas. Down this way is Ingram and Kerrville. Upstream this way takes you toward Camp Mystic, which is obviously the campgrounds where those young campers, those girls are still missing.

And that is really one of the main focuses of the search and rescue efforts today is trying to find, you know, more than two dozen girls that are that are still missing. And you can imagine all over the corners of the state, there are families desperately trying to figure out where those young girls might be. If there's any hope of finding them alive at this point.

But as you walk along the banks of the Guadalupe River here, you just see the ferociousness that these floodwaters rip through here. It's important to point out that the river, you know, kind of bends its way through this hill country terrain. And what that does is the floodwaters coming through, it's just kind of, you know, sloshing back and forth. And that is what rips apart trees and then some roadways and homes.

And all of that debris then keeps barreling downstream, causing more and more damage as it goes. And it is extensive for miles. We've been able to drive up and down this area, kind of trying to assess as best we can the amount of damage. And it is extensive, probably within a couple of hundred yards of the river itself. And in most places, the water levels reached incredible heights.

We saw -- we talked to one gentleman who said that there was a family that had climbed up onto the roof of a house that was probably no more than 150 yards away from the banks of the river. And then in open fields like this, you can see there have been volunteers, there are search and rescue teams going through fields like this trying to find the possibility of victims.

In some cases, we've seen even family members looking for their own loved ones as well. One gentleman did tell us a story of just in town here that they heard in the early morning hours as the sun was coming up yesterday, a kid calling for help. And it was a young kid who had been washed downstream.

The man believed that the kid had perhaps like traveled in the river, in the floodwaters for almost 6 miles because his home was 6 miles upstream. And he was able to latch onto a tree. And then teams were able to later rescue him from there as the floodwaters receded.

So just incredible stories that we're hearing from many of the residents who live here in Central Texas. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's so hard to believe all of this.

All right. Ed Lavandera, thank you so much. We'll check back with you.

Betsy Klein is traveling with the president in New Jersey. And, Betsy, there's a comment coming from the White House right now?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Fredricka. We are starting to get a sense of what the federal response to this really unimaginable tragedy is so far.

[12:05:04]

The Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency on site. We also expect Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to head to the scene. She should be arriving soon. But we heard from President Trump a few moments ago weighing in on this in a post to social media.

He says, quote, "The Trump administration is working with state and local officials on the ground in Texas in response to the tragic flooding that took place yesterday. Our Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem will be there shortly. Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy. Our brave first responders are on site doing what they do best. God bless the families and God bless Texas."

Now, we also know that President Trump spoke with Congressman Chip Roy, who represents this area, as well as Senator Ted Cruz. Roy, speaking in very emotional terms during a press conference in the last hour about the size and scope of this horrific, horrific tragedy.

We know that Coast Guard helicopters have been punching through these storms, working to help with rescue and recovery efforts. It's worth noting, though, that the president has been deeply critical of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He says he plans to phase out that agency by the end of this year's hurricane season, wanting to shift responsibility to state and local authorities.

But for now, the federal government working hand in hand with county officials, state officials. President Trump saying that he will take care of Texas. He told reporters aboard Air Force One as he made his way here to New Jersey late last night that he is working with the governor.

We've also heard from First Lady Melania Trump, who said in a post to social media, quote, "My heart goes out to the parents in Texas during this difficult time. I'm holding you in my thoughts and sending prayers for strength, comfort and resilience."

We also heard from Vice President JD Vance who says, "Our nation's heart breaks for the victims in Texas and their families. Just an incomprehensible tragedy. I hope everyone affected knows they're in the prayers of my family and millions of Americans."

We still don't know the full extent of this federal response and how that will be impacted by the forthcoming rains that are expected in this area. We don't know if the president has spoken with Governor Abbott of Texas yet. And we do know that the president has -- White House has issued a lid, which means that we do not expect to see the president for the duration of this day. He is at his New Jersey golf club in Bedminster.

We also don't know if the president will ultimately plan to visit this area when it becomes safe to do so. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Betsy Klein, thanks so much in New Jersey with the president.

All right, more rain fell overnight in central Texas and more is in the forecast. Let's bring in Meteorologist Chris Warren with more on all of this.

CHRIS WARREN, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, there is more rain expected to fall in areas that have already seen just unimaginable amounts of rain. So this is the area where the devastation of all the flooding happened. And this is new from overnight over here.

So there is still an ongoing threat right now in parts of Texas with flash flood warnings. And this is now going through the day today. And what's happening right now from Friday, so this is yesterday, all the heavy rain. And this is the drainage basin where we've seen the devastating flooding.

And then shifting from last night into this morning over here near Austin. And that's where this morning there was a flash flood emergency and flash flood warning still ongoing. That flash flood emergency is still in effect here. But you can see overall how that threat is shifting a little bit more to the east.

But there is now a flash flood warning that does include Austin as well. So this is still an ongoing situation that we are tracking for you today. Here are the showers and storms as we go forward. The future radar giving us an idea of what it's going to look like.

A bit of a break today. Still a few showers and storms. But now tomorrow morning at 6:00, it's already going to be going again. So for search and rescue, this likely to make things just that much more difficult with more rain, more storms right into the afternoon. Now this is the evening.

Tomorrow at 7:30. And then eventually we'll see a more significant break late Sunday into early Monday. But again, the amount of rain that we're going to see, not anywhere near what we had the past couple of days, but enough, Fredricka, to just make things that much more difficult for search and rescue.

WHITFIELD: It's a terrible situation and growing worse.

WARREN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, Chris Warren, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

All right, we're continuing to follow this breaking news. A desperate search for survivors underway in central Texas after catastrophic flooding there. At least 27 people dead, including nine children and 18 adults. We're following the latest right after this.

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[12:14:34]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. We're following breaking news out of Central Texas where at least 27 people are dead in severe flash flooding. Dozens more are missing. City officials are warning residents not to conduct their own search and rescue efforts.

Here's more of what the city manager had to say a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DALTON RICE, KERRVILLE CITY MANAGER: Don't do your own searches. We know everybody wants to get help. As the roads start clearing up, you're going to want to get out there. We are in constant communication with, you know, with families. We are in constant communication with those around. And so we will continue to effortlessly work through working with our partners.

(END VIDEOCLIP) [12:15:12]

WHITFIELD: Joining me right now is Daric and Heidi Easton, they are restaurant owners in downtown Kerrville, Texas. And I'm so glad you're able to be with us today. But I understand that you, you know, really felt that storm and were hit hard in a different way.

So talk to me, Daric first, you know, last night or yesterday, what was the weather like for you? What did you expect was going to happen?

DARIC EASTON, OWNER, "GRAPE JUICE" RESTAURANT: So Thursday, the third pretty standard service. The fourth on the river is always a pretty big event for us every year. It's always a pretty big event for us. It's always a pretty big event for us every year -- sorry. I just actually -- we're receiving donations from all over the state of Texas and my phone is constantly going off, so I apologize.

On the third, we were checking the weather where it's like a 30 percent chance of rain. We weren't too concerned about it. And so going to bed that night, our biggest contention, our biggest conflict was that we were going to be too busy for service. It happened on Friday night. And having a local legend like Robert Earl Keen play it was sure to draw like a pretty big crowd.

And so we were concerned that maybe we wouldn't have enough in stock or that we just wouldn't have enough room in our very small restaurant. So we go to bed. I start getting texts around 6:00-6:30 about catastrophic floods coming out of Texas.

We started getting out of bed around 7:00. But still, at this point, this area has flooded before and the water has gotten pretty high. And so there wasn't like this big rush to concern. It wasn't until we got on the road and saw the river. And then we also heard from a local reporter and saw on Facebook Live, like how bad it actually was. So --

WHITFIELD: Because your restaurant is on the river, right?

D. EASTON: On the river. Yes. So that became my first concern to -- again, I'm not thinking about what we now know, I'm thinking, like, do I have flood insurance? Are my freezers OK? Are we still connected to power?

Now, we are on a grid that is connected to the hospital, so we rarely lose power. But I was still in small business, narrow margins. That's all I was really thinking about at the time.

WHITFIELD: Yes. So, Heidi, here you all are going to kind of check out your restaurant, see how things are going. And then, as Daric just said, then to see the amount of water that you saw was pretty stunning. Describe for me what you saw.

HEIDI EASTON, OWNER, "GRAPE JUICE" RESTAURANT: I mean, on our way up to Grape Juice yesterday morning, I don't think either of us were prepared for that. Neither of us thought it was going to be what it was. Roads closed off the water behind the restaurant much higher than I've ever seen it before. I think it's just slowly started sinking in for us that it was a lot bigger than what we predicted. And it was a lot bigger than Grape Juice and just in ourselves and our small bubble that it was everyone. And that -- yes, that part is where -- as the day went on, it just kept -- the reality kept sinking in.

WHITFIELD: And Grape Juice is the name of your restaurant. And you all have, you know, not had it for too long now, but you're accustomed to the area to know, you know, that flooding is something that happens. You know, big rain happens there, but nothing like this.

And so tell me how now you have turned in kind of quick action. You're now helping others, even though so many people along the river there are in great need, including yourself. So how are -- how have you kind of, I guess, changed now the business model of Grape Juice? How are you helping people? Your phone was ringing off the hook there because you said people are now trying to donate.

D. EASTON: Yes, ma'am. So, it's actually not that big of a switch. I think hospitality and service is uniquely equipped to handle situations like this. I know any of your viewers out there, if they've ever worked in a restaurant, it's typically controlled chaos.

The difference was that we were doing this for our community and not just for a paycheck, not just for a profit margin, not just for gaining capital. I think especially when it comes to this area and a lot of the hospitality and servers and line cooks, you ask any one of them what it's like in the middle of June when camps let out on a typical summer, like how crazy it can be.

And so turning on a dime wasn't that different. It didn't really change how we viewed and operated. It just changed what we were doing.

[12:20:05]

WHITFIELD: I mean, this is a combination of things. This is very devastating. So many people lives lost.

D. EASTON: Yes, ma'am.

WHITFIELD: Now you just talked about the camps. I mean, all of these camps, centuries old camps data along the river. These are your customers. You've gotten to know a lot of the people. And now many people have died, 18 adults, nine children. And then they're looking for 27 young girls who were all part of this one camp, Camp Mystic.

And then you're also now -- you know, we're looking at pictures, you're making sandwiches, you're making food for first responders, et cetera. I mean, talk to me about how your community is intertwined. You are devastated, but at the same time, you're trying to help one another right now.

D. EASTON: I think, I originally hail from the suburbs of North Houston. And the difference in pace, but also in community is a stark contrast. This is a community, regardless of what's going on in the outside world, will always step up and help on each other. And that was always our first thought and first -- the first thought in my mind was initially, how do we feed these kids that are stuck out here?

And then once it became more and more drastic, it was like, OK, we're probably in this for the long haul. How do we set up systems and operations in which we can feed as many people effectively and efficiently as possible? And so once that got underway, it all kind of just -- the community kind of lifted us up.

Like I said, like I was just getting a call from Uvalde, Texas. Somebody is bringing wild game, which is actually what we kind of specialize here at this restaurant. We are getting produce from farmers markets. We, HEB (ph), just stopped by and dropped off a bunch of buns.

And then not to mention the flood of calls and the donations we've received on our own page have just -- it's nonstop. And so having that motivation and understanding how many people are supporting and loving us from near and afar is just kind of keeps -- what keeps us motivated. There's -- there are -- it's -- like there's kids, you know?

My daughter is nine. She's around the age of these girls. And so it's like I can't imagine what these parents are going through and I don't need to. I just need to make sandwiches. If I keep making sandwiches, people can still be fed. If responders are fed, then they can save lives.

And that's really the mantra. We've just been -- just keep making sandwiches, keep making.

WHITFIELD: And Heidi, we heard from officials who said they don't want people to, you know, be involved in search and rescue. Everyone, you know, kind of stay where they are, you know, stay in their lane and be safe. Talk to me about how you're able to distribute, you know, your -- the sandwiches, the help that you're able to provide for people there to first responders, to campers, the families, all these people.

H. EASTON: Absolutely. Yesterday, we just had a couple show up and just they were like, where do we need to go? What do we need to do? We didn't even get names, anything. They just showed up to help and started taking loads.

Daric has a customer who has a direct contact, a helicopter that was taking the food to -- across the river, the flooding. He personally loaded it himself. So people just reaching out and showing up like, I can't stress enough. Like, don't message, just show up.

Just come here. Just -- there's something, there's something to do. And we appreciate that so much. And we're making sure it gets wherever it needs to go and whoever needs to get fed as what (ph).

D. EASTON: I would say the biggest hurdle yesterday was strictly logistics, because when the initial reports were coming in that we couldn't get to -- our first idea was we were making -- the dining rooms of the camps were flooded. This was just an inconvenience. We're going to make sandwiches. We're going to make the meals, maybe lunch and dinner as it progressively. The news came out that it was worse and worse for the first hour or so. We just kept hitting local spots like churches and elementary schools. I got connected with the Kerr County -- the Kerrville Kroc Center associated with the Salvation Army.

Ashley Phillips over there has been a great help. She's been calling me every time anybody needs something. It's been a group effort. We are an interconnected community that all have each other's phone numbers.

I will say social media, like just posting stuff on Facebook, got a response that we did not expect. But we were prepared for and just having those people come and tell us where they needed food. The helicopter, Don McDonald, really helped us out. We went to Kerrville Airport.

He directly -- we directly loaded food onto the helicopters that were then flown to Camp Mystic. So this -- we did (INAUDIBLE) circle and accomplish the goal of feeding those kids.

[12:25:01]

And then lastly, just word of mouth. It's spread that we are here to help. And if you want to help, come help. If you have a truck, you can drive. If you're not, we are fully funding this starting out of our own pocket.

The first day, we just cooked all our inventory, which was not even a second thought. It's like we have the food. We are uniquely positioned not only geographically, but within the community as being kind of a hub for community events to really facilitate the food. And that's what we do.

And so going back to like, we don't need to be out here. All the work that needs to be done needs to happen between these four walls and over the Internet or over the phone lines.

WHITFIELD: And you are doing it. What an incredible enterprise you all have pivoted on a dime, you know, addressing the need of your community.

Daric and Heidi Easton of Grape Juice Restaurant, I know people are so grateful for all that you're doing. Really amazing, heroic work, especially in such time of need and devastation and turmoil. Thank you so much. All the best to you.

H. EASTON: Thank you.

D. EASTON: Yes, ma'am.

WHITFIELD: And we're continuing to follow our breaking news out of Texas. 27 fatalities in catastrophic flooding. And the search continues for 27 missing campers. We'll be right back.

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[12:30:51]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right, returning now to our breaking news out of Central Texas. Officials confirming at least 27 people are dead and dozens more are missing following severe flash flooding in Kerr County. An intense rescue effort is underway right now after torrential downpours triggered the flooding along the Guadalupe River, raising the water level more than 20 feet in less than two hours. Our CNN affiliate KABB is on the ground in Hunt, Texas, showing us the catastrophic damage at one community store.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAYLOR WHARTNABY, KABB REPORTER: I want to walk you through. They didn't want to be on camera, but they walked me through this area and what it did look like. So they said that this was once all boarded up. This was all brick and now completely opened up. That's just -- that's just to show how fierce that storm was and how it powered through. I want you to walk with me down here closer so we can get a closer look inside the actual building.

You could just see just the -- the debris that is completely clinging on to the building. But if you take a closer look here inside, you could just see it is just completely packed in there, just all the debris that just swept right into the Hunt store here in Hunt. This was a staple, they were telling me. I did speak to the cashier who worked here for many years, and so he saw a lot of residents come into the area.

I also want to mention that closer down here, again, there's lots of debris, branches downed power lines. What I thought was just devastating, what they told me, was right over here is where the post office once was, if you believe it. I -- I -- I was completely shocked. He said, this is the brick from the post office. And as you can see, it's completely gone at this -- it's no longer here.

But what we did find was a Cassandra, what's her name tag, which was somewhere further where we first started. It's just -- everything is scattered here. It's just devastating. Just the -- the amount of destruction this floodwater caused here in Hunt. So we're still speaking with residents here. And I did ask the cashier here about like rebuilding. You know, how did -- where do you go from here? And he says, you know, you just completely take this. You just rebuild from the bottom up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And a local resident whose family lived in the area for more than 100 years says he's never seen anything like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This very well may be the worst flood Hunt has ever seen because it would have started back up the South Fork. The devastation is -- is unbelievable. How -- how these kids survived in any of these camps along the river is nothing short of a miracle. But I did. I grew up with this storm. I've known about -- like I said, I've danced here. I've been here, sat by the fireplace and a rocking chair and drank a beer.

The devastation, there -- there are just no words, Taylor, that I can -- that I can say that -- that describe what I'm saying. My ranch, it was completely underwater. The water got that high. Just -- just unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: It is unbelievable. And again, 27 people, including nine children, their bodies have been recovered. They died. And the search continues for 27 young campers, all from an all-girls camp. The searches continue for them. So there was a lot of rain yesterday. More rain is in the forecast. Let's bring in meteorologist, Chris Warren. And while this forecast is not looking favorable for the search and rescue teams, I mean, this is what they're going to have to deal with.

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. And there are some new areas this morning that were under flash flood warnings and flash flood emergencies. But I want to take you back and show you how this all came about. This is the radar estimated rainfall. So the scale up here shows the yellow two to four, four to six in orange, six to 10 inches of rain in red.

[12:35:04]

So think about that for this part of the -- the country here in Texas. That's a whole summer's worth of rain in a few hours in some cases. So it's not just a point. We show you the whole radar estimated because there's counties in here, several counties, well over a dozen counties. And a lot of all of that rain, four to 10 inches of rain going into eventually the same river, the Guadalupe River, and that brings essentially what was like a wave of water going down in the pre-dawn hours here of Friday.

This is now the Friday radar as we look at the recap here. And it just kept going and going and going. And then going into this morning, we saw this happen overnight into early morning. And this now a little bit farther to the east of what we're seeing and what we saw over the past couple of days. This is now where new today, new this morning, flash flood emergency, flash flood warning. San Antonio up to north of San Antonio, up to Austin and even north of there.

So the bulk of the more intense moisture is moving off to the east. But through tonight and into tomorrow, we're going to watch a little bit of a break today and tonight. But then it's going to pick back up tomorrow. Here's 1 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Some of the same areas where the search and rescue and recovery will be ongoing, once again, going to be dealing, Fredricka, with some more showers and thunderstorms.

But the unimaginable rain that we saw the past couple of days, that's not what we're looking at here. But these thunderstorms, they can be intense and they can cause some serious localized issues.

WHITFIELD: Yes, we definitely see that. I mean, the power of that water is just unbelievable. All right. Thank you so much, Chris. Appreciate it.

And we're continuing to follow this breaking news out of Texas. The death toll rising after that catastrophic flooding as officials urgently search for now dozens of missing children.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:41:28]

WHITFIELD: All right. We're continuing our breaking news coverage of the deadly floods in Texas. Dozens of people are missing, including 27 young girls from a summer camp. Officials say nine children are among the 27 people confirmed dead. Texas Congressman Chip Roy says they are still holding out hope for more survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): Nobody was talking about that level of water, but we'll figure all that out later. Right now the key is just focusing on seeing if we can find anyone else surviving. We had this great story that I told up here before about one of my kid's schoolmates that was found, and she was floating on a mattress for a couple hours in the middle of the night. So there are some -- some, you know, heartwarming stories out of this, but -- but obviously some devastation, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: At least 230 people have been rescued. CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Hunt, Texas. Ed, I mean, rescue crews are out. There are people, family members you mentioned, who have been out calling for their loved ones. I mean, tell me what's happening there.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the -- the mayor of Kerrville said this morning that today was going to be a hard day, and that is because as more of these search crews go out and fan out into areas like this within, you know, perhaps a couple of hundred yards of the river itself, depending on -- on where you are, you know, this is like -- these are the areas where the search and rescue operations are -- are taking place, and we're seeing that up and down all along the river because this river winds its way through the Hill Country terrain here.

And you can see that this is an area where we would have been well underwater yesterday morning, Fredricka. If you look into the treetops there, you can see -- you might see a little speck of white there. I can't even make out exactly what that is, but it's clearly debris that was left in the trees as -- as the water rushed through here. You know, that is probably a good 30 to 40-feet high into that -- into that -- into those tree limbs there.

It gives you a sense of just how much water, and then you see the damage and what it has done to the debris here, the -- the -- the -- the force that the water was rushing through here, and that is what many of the victims who, many of them have told us they were caught off guard by this. Everything rose rather quickly. You can imagine the horror that was unfolding there at Camp Mystic where hundreds of young girls scrambling to try to get to safety and obviously a great deal of concern about whether or not all of them were able to -- to make it.

There are more than two dozen of those young girls still missing. That is obviously one of the places that is getting an intense amount of attention here this morning as search and rescue teams fan out into the area. We've met a -- just met a man from Austin whose friend's daughter is missing. He was literally walking through this field to see if he could come across something to be able to bring some solace to his friend.

So we're seeing a lot of that play out here. And you can also see just the damage, and you can see the -- the traffic that is starting to build up too as well. These are, you know, small one-lane road each way that takes you from Kerrville to Ingram to Hunt. So these are the communities along the banks of the Guadalupe River. These are the communities where a lot of these summer camps have been held for -- for decades and decades, and that is where many people come and often come to spend the July 4th weekend, and that is what we're seeing unfold here.

[12:44:55]

And it's also one of the reasons, Fredricka, why first responders are having a hard time pinpointing exactly how many people are missing at this point. Cell phone communication is very spotty, so it could be, you know, that some people are just having a hard time communicating with -- with loved ones. But there isn't -- it doesn't appear at this point so far anyway to be a real grasp on just how many people are missing, and search-and-rescue teams are working to get a handle on that.

But, you know, more than two dozen have -- have been confirmed dead so far. And residents, Fredricka, tell us that they're very ones -- they often -- the -- the ones that are making these gruesome discoveries. One man told us it was behind a building, a general store, that they found the body of a young girl, another body just not too far away from that. So it's -- it's residents many times who are the ones calling these discoveries in to -- to the first responders and emergency officials here on the ground.

WHITFIELD: So terrible, so tragic. All right, Ed Lavandera, we'll check back with you. Thank you so much.

So search-and-rescue operations do continue at this hour in Central Texas. A local reporter also joining us live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:50:45]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. Right now, the Trump administration is vowing to send resources to central Texas. At least 27 people are dead and dozens more remain missing, including 27 girls who remain unaccounted for at Camp Mystic, which is located along the Guadalupe River. Joining me right now is Louis Amestoy, the editor and publisher of the Kerr County Lead, which covers Kerr County, Texas. Louis, I'm glad you could be with us.

So describe for me, you know, where were you when you realized this is devastating? This storm is big. The consequences it -- of it are much bigger than anyone realized at first.

LOUIS AMESTOY, EDITOR & PUBLISHER, THE KERR COUNTY LEAD: Well, let me tell you, I -- I live in South Kerrville, and all I heard was thunder and lightning all night, but I didn't hear any rain. And when I got up around 645, I had actually been called by people who were like, hey, this is going crazy, like it's 6:00 -- between 6:00 and 6:30. So by the time I kind of woke up, I got in the car and I started driving down towards Louise Hays Park where the Guadalupe runs through.

And I didn't know what I was looking at because the horizon was completely covered in water. And so at that point, the river was probably 25 or 30 feet above, you know, flood stage at that point. And it was just below the Louise Hays Park -- Bridge that goes across the bridge there. So I -- I didn't expect it to be like that. That's for sure. It was -- it was stunning to see that.

WHITFIELD: And then tell me about this Guadalupe River and all that takes place along it. I mean, I read that the river is dotted with, you know, many centuries old camps where people from all over the state and even beyond send their kids during the summers. They enjoy these camps. It's a, you know, in some cases it's been a, you know, long tradition for some families. Now, I talked to some restaurant owners of a Grape Juice. You are familiar with them. So I recognize there are some businesses, there are camps. What else takes place there along the river? Tell me about this community.

AMESTOY: Well, I mean, the Guadalupe River to me is one of the most beautiful places, you know, in the -- in the U.S. And it is, you know, green and clear. You know, it -- we're kind of the headwaters of the river. It -- it has two forks, the north and the south fork that kind of converge just below Ingram and or into Ingram. And then the water flows down into the river through Kerrville.

And we have several little dams along the -- the way, one in Ingram, which is a popular destination. And then we have Nimitz Lake, which is the kind of the freshwater surface water for the city of Kerrville. And then it runs through the park and there's all sorts of recreation down there. We have an extensive river trail system here in Kerrville that goes for about six or seven miles. There's all sorts of recreation interface with the -- with the river all the way down into Comfort, into Kendall County, to -- to the east of us.

I mean, it is a destination place for many, many families, especially on the Fourth of July. And not only do you have -- do you have the big camps that are here, there's about 18 of those historic camps. But you also have numerous RV spots in little places along the river. The biggest one that has been hit the hardest is HTR RV Park, which is right there on the river on off of Goat Creek Cutoff where a significant amount of people are missing from.

And then I just found out this morning that there's another series of little lodges up in Ingram between Ingram and Hunt called Casa Bonita. And there were several people missing from there. So you can rent a place, you can stay at a camp, you can sit in an RV. And the whole -- all the way to Hunt and through the two forks, there's all sorts of, you know, second homes. There's a lot of, you know, wealthy people in the Hunt area that retire there.

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So it's -- it's really a destination spot. And what is particularly difficult for us is that these camps are so ingrained in, you know, the Texas culture here that people come to these camps year after year, generation after generation. And they are coming here because of the beauty of it and their connections to the -- to the community from all over the state, from Austin, San Antonio, from Beaumont, from Houston, from Dallas. You know, there's a lot of Houston people here that -- that -- they revere the Hill Country.

WHITFIELD: And how incredibly devastating this is to now have this kind of tragedy. Confirmation of 27 bodies found, including nine children. And now the search continues for 27 missing girls from one camp alone. And then you describe the RV parks and lodges. I mean, it's -- it's difficult at this point to really know how many people remain missing. And that's -- that just underscores how absolutely tragic this is.

AMESTOY: I don't know how many -- I don't know how many kids are missing from the -- from Camp Mystic. That number sounds a little high at this point. But I know that there are fatalities. I know that there are many missing people. I -- I -- the -- I was at the press conference earlier and Dalton Rice, the city manager of Kerrville, you know, is adamant he's not going to give a list at this point. We just don't know.

And what makes it challenging is that, again, you have all these RV parks here. You know, these -- these RV resorts and you don't know who's here. And so, I mean, there's only 50,000 people live in Kerr County. And, you know, you could have probably another 10,000 probably staying in RV parks and the camps, you know, all the way down to Center Point, which is on the eastern side of Kerr County.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Well, that helps really paint the picture of this beautiful community of residence and enjoyment and respite for so many for so long. Louis Amestoy, thank you so much. Thanks for being with us. And, of course, we're continuing to wish for the best possible outcome, even though right now it sounds really awfully tragic. Thank you so much.

AMESTOY: All right. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll be right back.

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