How fast moving floods torn by Central Texas

The warning signals already flashed when hundreds of young people celebrated the fourth July day in Camp Mystic, a Christian summer retreat of All-Girls, located on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas.

There had been no drop of rain in the area recently until the flood, when the river 26 ft (8m) rose in less than an hour, according to state officials.

At least 51 people were dead by Saturday evening, including 15 children.

The first hint of the destruction that would come, appeared on Thursday morning when rain and thunderstorms a number of provinces in Central Texas.

The National Weather Service (NWS) gave a common warning called a flood watch at 13:18 that afternoon for parts of the region, including Kerr County.

In the early hours of Friday, the prospects became more serious as the NWS released a series of improved warnings. The River San Saba, the River Concho and the Colorado River came up.

At 4:03 the NWS sent a “particularly dangerous situation” alert, reserved for the most urgent and potentially deadly scenarios such as forest fires.

Another “particularly dangerous situation” warning was issued for the city of Kerrville at 05:34, before dawn on Friday.

“Residents and campers must now look for higher terrain! It is expected that life -threatening flash flames along the river are expected,” said predictors.

“Automated rain meters indicate that a large and deadly flood wave is moving along the Guadalupe River. Flash floods are already occurring.”

Such reports are shared on NWS Social Media accounts and by broadcast news, but most people slept.

Elinor Lester, 13, said that younger campers in Camp Mystic in Hutten were cut closer to the riverbank and they were the first to flood.

“The camp was completely destroyed,” Elinor, who was evacuated by Helicopter, told the news agency Associated Press. “It was really scary.”

Just outside Kerrville, the BBC Jonathan and Brittany met Rojas when they came to see what was left of a family member’s house. Only the foundations continue to exist.

Five people were in the house in the night of the flood – the mother and her baby are still missing.

The teenage son, Leo, survived after he was cut into barbed wire and prevented him from being wiped out. The boy recovers in the hospital.

While the BBC interviewed the Rojas pair, a neighbor walked up to present them an item from the house.

It was the teenager’s money pot. The label on it was: “Leo’s survival kit”.

Desperate camp Mystic parents went for social media looking for news about their children.

One Facebook group – Kerrville Breaking News – turned into a page with missing people.

Since then, some parents have updated their social media plates to say that their missing family members have not survived.

Kerr County is located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, an escape destination because of the picturesque rolling hills, countless rivers and lakes and abundance of wineries.

But the region is also known as “Flash Flood Alley”, because of the recurring threat that has destroyed local communities over the years.

When asked why the summer camp on the river was not evacuated, officials said that the sudden scale of the flood caught them unexpectedly.

“Nobody knew that this kind of flood was coming,” said judge Rob Kelly, Kerr County.