6 killed, 20 children missing following severe flooding in Texas

At least six people are dead in Texas Hill Country and unaccounted from a girls summer camp as officers continue search and rescue operations after several overnight flash flooding As much as inches centimeters of heavy rain fell in just a insufficient hours overnight in central Kerr County causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River The Kerr County sheriff s office ratified fatalities but did not provide additional details A flood watch issued Thursday afternoon estimated isolated amounts up to seven inches That shifted to a flood warning for at least people overnight Texas Gov Greg Abbott revealed the state was providing guidance to Hill Country communities dealing with the flooding including Kerrville Ingram and Hunt I urge Texans to heed guidance from state and local officers and monitor local forecasts to avoid driving into flooded areas Abbott explained in a announcement The Guadalupe s river gauge at the unincorporated neighborhood of Hunt where the river forks recorded a foot rise meters in just about two hours according to Bob Fogarty meteorologist with the National Weather Facility s Austin San Antonio office Fogarty noted the gauge failed after recording a level of and a half feet meters We think the river s higher than that Fogarty mentioned The gauge is entirely underwater The riverfront communities include several camps wildlife habitats and campgrounds Texas Event Wardens part of the state parks and wildlife agency declared on Facebook that search and rescue teams are conducting rescues throughout the region and sending more boats to help This is the kind of thing that will catch you unaware Fogarty revealed The water s moving so fast you re not going to recognize how bad it is until it s on top of you Meanwhile strong thunderstorms were being blamed for at least three deaths in central New Jersey including two men in Plainfield who died after a tree fell onto a car they were traveling in during the height of a storm there according to a city Facebook post The men were ages and authorities declared They were not forthwith publicly identified Our hearts are heavy in contemporary times Mayor Adrian O Mapp commented in a announcement This tragedy is a sobering reminder of the power of nature and the fragility of life The city canceled its planned July Fourth parade concert and fireworks show Mapp stated the devastating storms had left deep scars and widespread damage in the public of more than people and it was a time to regroup and focus all of our resource on recovery Continuing power outages and downed trees were released Friday throughout southern New England where specific communities received large amounts of hail There were reports of cars skidding off the road in northeastern Connecticut