Texas, USA - July 5, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of flood-damaged houses, vehicles, toppled trees
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Arnaldo Pena, local resident:
"We're just trying to see because my dog, he's a German shepherd, so I want to see if he can find someone, help out some families."
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rogelio Gomez, local resident:
"It's sad. I've lived here my whole life, and it's just, we know some friends, my mom's friends, and we can't find them. There are only a few of them, but it's sad. My friends who live by the river, they got had to go, evacuated. They had to get evacuated by the river."
4. Various of flood-damaged houses, vehicles
5. Various of traffic
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Joseph Tijerina, local resident:
"I basically knew it was raining. The previous night before, I didn't think it was going to get that bad until I woke up and my mom was basically saying 'evacuations are going on. People are going missing.' It didn't feel real until I actually saw the damage and what was actually going on."
7. Various of toppled trees, water-damaged vehicles
8. Traffic

Residents of Kerr County, Texas are reeling after deadly flash floods swept through the area early Friday, killing at least 43 people and leaving dozens more unaccounted for.

Local authorities of Kerr confirmed that at least 43 people, including 28 adults and 15 children, died after torrential rains triggered a sudden rise in the Guadalupe River.

Another 27 children remain missing, most of them campers at Camp Mystic, a summer camp for girls nestled along the riverbank.

The camp, located in the unincorporated community of Hunt, typically hosts around 750 children each summer. The site has been closed to the media, with only parents allowed to retrieve their children's belongings.

Throughout the county, residents are trying to piece their lives together and band together to weather these challenging days.

"We're just trying to see because my dog, he's a German shepherd, so I want to see if he can find someone, help out some families," said Arnaldo Pena, a young local resident.

Many residents spent the day anxiously searching for friends and loved ones believed to have been swept away when the river surged.

According to the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS), water levels in the Guadalupe River rose from 2.3 meters to a staggering 9 meters within just three hours early Friday morning, reaching the second-highest level on record for the area.

"It's sad. I've lived here my whole life, and it's just, we know some friends, my mom's friends, and we can't find them. There are only a few of them, but it's sad. My friends who live by the river, they got had to go, evacuated. They had to get evacuated by the river," said Rogelio Gomez, another young resident.

The intensity and speed of the flooding caught many off guard.

"I basically knew it was raining. The previous night before, I didn't think it was going to get that bad until I woke up and my mom was basically saying 'evacuations are going on. People are going missing.' It didn't feel real until I actually saw the damage and what was actually going on," said Joseph Tijerina.

Texas has already endured several severe flooding events this year, and 2024 has seen a record number of flash flood emergencies across the United States, according to AccuWeather.