Emergency crews suspend search for flooding victims in central Texas amid new flood warnings

KERRVILLE Texas AP Urgency crews suspended their search for casualties of catastrophic flooding in central Texas on Sunday morning amid new warnings that additional rain would again cause waterways to surge It was the first time a new round of severe weather has paused the search since the flooding earlier this month Ingram Fire Department executives ordered search crews to without delay evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County until further notice warning the expected for a flash flood is high Search-and-rescue teams have been searching for missing casualties of the July weekend flooding Search and rescue efforts were expected to resume on Monday depending on river flow Fire Department spokesman Brian Lochte explained We re working with a sparse crews and airboats and SAR search-and-rescue boats just in development Lochte declared As heavy rain fell Sunday National Weather Organization forecasters warned that the Guadalupe River could rise to nearly feet meters by Sunday afternoon about five feet above flood stage and enough to put the Highway bridge near Hunt under water Numerous secondary roads and bridges are flooded and very dangerous a weather arrangement warning stated The destructive fast-moving waters rose feet meters on the Guadalupe River in just minutes before daybreak on July washing away homes and vehicles Ever since searchers have used helicopters boats and drones to look for casualties and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads The floods laid waste to the Hill Country region of Texas The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins youth camps and campgrounds including Camp Mystic the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley Camp Mystic lost at least campers and counselors and longtime owner Dick Eastland The flood was far more severe than the -year event envisioned by the Federal Crisis Management Agency experts reported and moved so swiftly in the middle of the night that it caught countless off guard in a county that lacked a warning system The sheer amount of rain was overwhelming Former NOAA chief scientist Ryan Maue a private meteorologist calculated on July that the storm had dropped billion gallons of water on Kerr County which received the brunt of the storm This summer flash flooding driven by bursts of heavy rain turned deadly elsewhere in Texas In San Antonio in June more than inches centimeters of rain fell over a span of hours prompting dozens of rescues from the fast-rising floodwaters and killing at least Source