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In a special edition of World News Tonight, David Muir reports from Kerrville, Texas the epicenter of one of the deadliest U.S. floods in decade. At least 104 people, including dozens of children, have been killed; Matt Gutman reports as officials are pressed about their response to the Texas flooding and whether there could have been a better warning system; Mireya Villarreal flies with a Coast Guard crew using a special camera to search for survivors in Texas; and more on tonight’s broadcast of World News Tonight with David Muir.
In a special edition of World News Tonight, David Muir reports from Kerrville, Texas the epicenter of one of the deadliest U.S. floods in decade. At least 104 people, including dozens of children, have been killed; Matt Gutman reports as officials are pressed about their response to the Texas flooding and whether there could have been a better warning system; Mireya Villarreal flies with a Coast Guard crew using a special camera to search for survivors in Texas; and more on tonight’s broadcast of World News Tonight with David Muir.
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00:00Tonight, a special edition of World News Tonight, the devastating flood emergency right here in Texas.
00:06The horror at a girls camp and what we've now learned tonight.
00:09My interview here with the Coast Guard rescue swimmer and what he witnessed at that camp as he tried to save the children.
00:16And tonight, as we come on, the flash flood warnings and watches still in effect here.
00:21Tonight, the haunting images coming in, devastating flooding in central Texas.
00:25More than 100 people killed, including dozens of children.
00:28Floodwaters tearing through Camp Mystic for Girls.
00:31The Guadalupe River exploding over its banks, rising 26 feet in just 45 minutes.
00:37Homes swept away. Nearly 1,000 people rescued so far.
00:42Six members of a family swept away, one found alive, clinging to a tree for hours.
00:48My interview with the husband and wife, the floodwaters racing into their home and the choice they had to make at the front door and the moment he lost sight of his wife.
00:57I also talked with that heroic Coast Guard swimmer tonight, helping to save 165 people, children, on his first rescue mission.
01:05Our Mireya Villarreal tonight with the U.S. Coast Guard up in the air.
01:09The search teams above and on the ground, they're not giving up.
01:12And tonight, our Matt Gutman piecing together the critical timeline, the alerts and warnings.
01:17When did they come? And could more have been done to save lives?
01:21Tonight, state and local authorities are pressed, will changes be made here?
01:24And Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee is tracking the new warnings and watches right now.
01:29More life-threatening flooding still possible tonight.
01:32Also, the state of emergency in North Carolina we're watching and the system moving into the Northeast.
01:38Also on this Monday night, Border Patrol agents ambushed in McAllen, Texas.
01:41A gunman reportedly armed with a rifle, opening fire as they reported for duty.
01:46Tonight, the major new immigration crackdown operation in Los Angeles.
01:49Roughly 90 National Guard troops and more than a dozen military Humvees and armored vehicles in the streets.
01:56L.A.'s Mayor Karen Bass confronting ICE agents.
01:59In New York City tonight, shark sightings forcing a well-known beach to close.
02:03Drones spotting multiple sharks just offshore.
02:07And back here in Texas, the bravery of the children and who they asked about as they were being saved here.
02:13From ABC News, this is ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, reporting tonight from Kerrville, Texas.
02:25Good evening tonight from Kerrville, Texas, where we have witnessed one of the deadliest flooding disasters in the U.S. in decades.
02:32Tonight here, the scope of the loss is simply staggering.
02:34The desperate search for the missing.
02:36You can see the Guadalupe River right here behind me.
02:38The rain came down so fast, so quickly here in the early morning hours of the 4th of July that the river rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes.
02:47The beautiful hill country of Texas, underwater.
02:50This home I'm standing next to tonight, the wife inside telling me the rising waters reaching her neck very quickly.
02:55And she and her husband had no choice but to step out their front door and right into the current of the river that was at their home.
03:02How they survived this, you'll hear their story in a moment.
03:05Homes washed away here, RVs floating down the river, and of course the heartbreak at Camp Mystic for Girls.
03:11Tonight, my interview with the Coast Guard rescue swimmer who saved so many children there, and what he said they told him.
03:17And as we come on tonight, more than 100 people are now confirmed dead here.
03:21Dozens of them are children.
03:23The river rising quickly in the dark as the rain fell.
03:26The boat rescues that began in those early morning hours.
03:29By daylight, other rivers flooding as well.
03:31This time-lapse video showing floodwaters rushing in, flooding a causeway in under 10 minutes.
03:36This home washed away in Centerpoint, Texas, floating down the Guadalupe River and right into a bridge there.
03:42The Coast Guard lifting dozens to safety and helicopters overhead.
03:45This young woman swept miles away from her family's campsite, rescued after clinging to a tree for hours.
03:52Tonight, she's in the hospital.
03:53We're told she will survive this.
03:55But she's also been told five other members of her family are still missing.
03:58And tonight here, what's left now of Camp Mystic.
04:01Some 750 girls were there as the emergency unfolded.
04:05After, the cabins filled with water and mud, bunk beds destroyed, pink sleeping bags and treasured stuffed animals, all that's left.
04:12The camp tonight saying 27 campers and a counselor have died.
04:16And tonight here, we're now seeing some of the first faces of those who did not survive this.
04:20There is a massive response here in the flood zone tonight, among them that 26-year-old Coast Guard rescue swimmer on his first rescue mission, telling me what he saw when he landed at Camp Mystic.
04:32The bravery here in the Hill Country.
04:34Tonight, it is difficult to put into words the scope of the loss across the Hill Country here in Texas.
04:41Here in Kirk County and beyond, so many communities dealing with unimaginable loss.
04:46Tonight, Texas authorities now confirm more than 100 lives have been lost here, so many of them children, the little girls sleeping at camp, so many lives stolen in one of the deadliest U.S. floods in decades.
04:59Good job, guys.
05:01With more rain in the forecast tonight, searchers have not given up.
05:05It was the 4th of July, and families in six counties, many of them camping along the Guadalupe River, gathering along the waterfront, a summer tradition.
05:14They had just gone to bed, only to wake up hours later before the sun came up because of flash floods suddenly swallowing up family campgrounds, homes, and sleepaway camps.
05:25The river rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes, in some places, four months' worth of rain in just one night.
05:32The force of the floodwaters carrying homes away, this one then crashing into a tree.
05:44Bridges severely damaged, trees snapped in half, many toppled, homes left in the middle of the road.
05:51This time-lapse video showing just how quickly the floodwaters took over these communities.
05:55In just 10 minutes, they were surrounded by water and a deadly current.
05:59Much of central Texas and the hill country was under a flood watch going into the holiday.
06:04And just after midnight, the Weather Service had issued a forecast that showed extreme rainfall was possible.
06:10By 1 a.m., the Weather Service said a very dangerous flash flood event was unfolding in Kerr County.
06:15Around 4 a.m., a warning of a particularly dangerous situation for Kerr County.
06:20But authorities say that rare alert came when most were asleep.
06:24The Guadalupe River, right next to Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp, where cabins were soon filling with water.
06:32The torrent of water, the river overflowing its banks, and soon much of the campground was surrounded.
06:39Camp counselors sharing videos of young campers just one day before playing.
06:44Less than 24 hours later, the horror for the young children there.
06:48Some 750 campers, the girls' cabins just a few hundred feet from the river.
06:53The younger campers sleeping in the low-lying area when the floods hit in the middle of the night.
06:58The images from inside show the destruction.
07:01Their cabins, their bunk beds torn apart, their belongings scattered, much of it now gone.
07:07And tonight, authorities at Camp Mystic with the heart-wrenching news.
07:11They now say at least 27 girls and staff were killed, including a young counselor.
07:16They say 10 young campers are still missing.
07:19And tonight, this heartbreaking image, a camp t-shirt in the aftermath.
07:26And tonight here, a moment of strength from the children.
07:30A camp nurse, Devin Williams, sharing images of the surviving campers on a bus to a reunification center,
07:37where they all began to sing together as they drove through their now unrecognizable camp.
07:42Tonight, Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskin telling me what he witnessed when the helicopter landed at Camp Mystic.
07:50He had just completed a swift water rescue course just two months ago.
07:55The crew decided Scott would stay on the ground with the children.
07:58It would allow them to get more of the children out.
08:01If you stayed on scene, it would give him a little more space in the helicopter.
08:05Yeah, we assumed that, you know, based on weight, we could probably take two more kids every trip.
08:09So they got to work.
08:10He told me the children were still in their pajamas, some wearing just one shoe,
08:14still soaked and covered in mud from the rising waters.
08:17He told me who those children, some just seven and eight years old, were asking about.
08:23Primary, just asking about their friends.
08:24They wanted to see if I knew anything about their friends, show me pictures,
08:27do whatever they could to try to find their friends.
08:29And I just told them, I was like, hey guys, like, I don't know where they are.
08:32We have every crew we can possibly imagine.
08:34He told me about the little girls he swept into his arms.
08:37At one point, you were carrying two girls in one arm.
08:40Yeah, yeah, it was one in each arm.
08:42But yeah, it was just two little kids, like seven years old, didn't have shoes on.
08:45I was like, dude, I'm not going to make you guys walk through this mud,
08:48like while you're trying to get to a helicopter.
08:50And tonight here, we are learning about the young lives lost
08:52and the brave camp counselors who tried to save them.
08:56Eight-year-old twins Hannah Lawrence on the left and Rebecca Lawrence on the right.
08:59They were attending Camp Mystic with their older sister, 14-year-old Harper, who survived.
09:05Tonight, their grandfather saying Hannah and Rebecca gave their whole family so much joy.
09:09They and that joy can never be forgotten.
09:12Chloe Childress was returning to Camp Mystic as a counselor there
09:15and had recently graduated from the Kincaid School.
09:18Her school sharing Chloe made space for others to feel safe, valued, and brave.
09:22She understood what it meant to be a part of a community.
09:25And more than that, she helped build one.
09:27She was set to begin her freshman year at the University of Texas at Austin this fall.
09:32Dick Eastland was the beloved longtime director at Camp Mystic,
09:35who died trying to save the lives of his campers.
09:39Tonight, his grandson George calling him a mentor to thousands of young women,
09:43saying, although I am devastated, I can't say I'm surprised that you sacrificed your life
09:47with the hopes of someone else's being saved.
09:50Former counselor Ryan Robinson paying tribute to that longtime camp director.
09:54He made sure that I always felt comfortable and felt at home at Mystic.
09:58He was just an extremely helpless person, and he showed that until the very end.
10:04Tonight, we are learning about the incredible stories of survival.
10:08Nearly 1,000 rescued since the 4th of July.
10:11The San Angelo Police Department airlifting families to safety
10:14after water levels rose above their homes.
10:17Using boats to scour stadium-sized debris fields for the stranded.
10:20Using helicopters to reach people clinging to trees.
10:24Come on!
10:24Pull tighter!
10:26Tonight, the remarkable scene.
10:28Neighbors and local authorities helping to rescue a woman
10:30in rapidly rising floodwaters.
10:32A chain of people pulling a rope to get her to safety.
10:36Scott and Juliet Weldon were in their home asleep, waking to the noise.
10:41But they had no idea it was the river now at their door.
10:45When they saw the water, Juliet put on her husband's life vest.
10:48There are motorcycles outside, their jeep, floating away.
10:52Look at this here, the water line.
10:53That's where the water, see that?
10:55That's where the water was, which explains why you're floating in your own home.
10:59Yeah.
10:59She opened up the front door, but told me it took her three tries to step into that water.
11:04The current sweeping her away.
11:06You stepped out the front door, and the water just takes you.
11:09Oh yeah, oh yeah.
11:10Just like that.
11:10I was like, it's pretty remarkable that you're standing here.
11:13That's when I said, like, oh my god.
11:16And then seeing all this, it's just, like, it breaks my heart.
11:20Scott told me he swam after her.
11:23They tried to grab onto trees, onto neighbors' homes, but the current was too strong.
11:28Suddenly, they were both pushed into this tall hedgerow by force.
11:31You're holding the tree, and he's holding you.
11:34Yeah, he's holding me.
11:35Scott told me he was not going to let her out of his grasp.
11:38He wasn't going to let go.
11:40No, no, no, no.
11:4235 years and counting.
11:44So many families facing the same harrowing fight.
11:47The water's suddenly sweeping them from their homes, from their cabins, sometimes for miles.
11:53Tonight, a family of six swept away.
11:55Five are still missing.
11:57One family member found alive, clinging to a tree, more than 15 miles from where they were swept away.
12:04Devin Smith, 22 years old, they believe she passed through three dams.
12:07She witnessed RVs being carried down the river beside her.
12:11Carl Jeter spotting her from inside his home and calling first responders.
12:16Help is coming.
12:19Tonight, that survivor's uncle, Travis Reynolds, meeting the homeowner who spotted her in the tree, hugging him, thanking him, grateful.
12:26It means a lot.
12:28The tree across the river.
12:30Carl's showing us the tree she held onto for six hours.
12:34And this evening, her uncle Travis telling us she is in the hospital but will be okay.
12:39But she also knows five members of her family are still missing.
12:43My family stepped in to make sure that she was safe.
12:46We're grateful for her being alive.
12:48And tonight here, the loved ones who did not survive.
12:51Dr. Catherine Eads died after her RV was swept up.
12:55She was camping with her husband, Brian, and they were separated by the flood.
12:58He survived, but he could not find her.
13:01Her family sharing she was a psychologist and college professor, calling her an incredible wife, daughter, mother, grandmother, and a person who spent her life helping kids.
13:0927-year-old Julian Ryan and his family waking up to floodwaters in their home in Ingram, within moments, the water to their waists.
13:17Along with his mother and fiancée, Christina, Julian working quickly to save their young sons, smashing through the window with his hand, sustaining severe injuries as he tried to help his family escape.
13:28He lost so much blood, he knew.
13:31His last words to his fiancée, Christina, I love you.
13:34I'm so sorry.
13:35Tonight, his sister wants us to know that Julian died a hero.
13:39Jane Ragsdale was the beloved director of the Heart of the Hills Camp for Girls.
13:43Tonight, the camp sang Jane embodied the spirit of the camp and was exactly the type of strong, joyful woman that the camp aimed to develop.
13:51And tonight, that Coast Guard rescue swimmer who told me he will never forget those young faces, the children he helped save, and their bravery.
14:00Any rescue swimmer in the last year?
14:02But again, any of the rescue swimmers would have done the same thing.
14:04Yeah.
14:05Well, I'm sure those parents thank you, too.
14:07Yeah, I'm glad their kids were tough.
14:08So, thank you.
14:10Thank you, guys.
14:11Yeah, of course.
14:11We told him so many of those parents must be grateful to him and all of the first responders.
14:17They have been just incredible here in Texas.
14:19And by the way, he kept count.
14:21They helped save 165 children in the hours after that emergency first began.
14:26Tonight, of course, those heart-wrenching questions now.
14:28Could more have been done to save lives here?
14:30Was the alert system enough?
14:32ABC's chief national correspondent, Matt Guttman, also here on the ground tonight, piecing together the critical timeline, the alerts and warnings.
14:39When did they come?
14:40And tonight, state and local authorities are already being pressed.
14:43Will changes be made here?
14:44Tonight, along with the thousands of first responders and volunteers.
14:49Searching for signs of life along the battered banks of the Guadalupe River, there is a parallel search for answers.
14:56Whether lives could have been saved by a better warning system.
15:00The first flash flood warning issued at around 1 a.m.
15:02The first flash flood emergency blasted out just after 4 a.m.
15:06But that's not what roused Stuart Gross from bed.
15:09What was it that woke you up?
15:10The fire department.
15:11It wasn't the alert on your phone?
15:13What you're saying is that a better alert system would have saved lives.
15:17Absolutely.
15:18Absolutely.
15:18If it wasn't for the Ingram Volunteer Fire Department, we would have lost a lot more people down below.
15:24Countless others also missing the alert.
15:26Officials ducking questions about the alert system.
15:29It's very tough to make those calls because what we also don't want to do is cry wolf.
15:32And late today, canceling an afternoon press conference.
15:35ABC News learning the National Weather Service in Austin and San Antonio did have five meteorologists working the severe weather event as part of its surge staffing protocol.
15:45It's normally staffed with two.
15:47They issued warnings that Rivers Creek streams and other low-lying locations may rise out of their banks.
15:53Dozens of summer camps dot this beloved region of the Guadalupe River and other waterways here.
15:58We're here just outside Camp Mystic.
16:00You can see the front of that building ripped clean off.
16:02Over here, people taking out the belongings of campers, including their trunks.
16:07And the floods from this weekend raising questions about whether it's safe for camps like this to be so close to the river's edge.
16:13They call this area Flash Flood Alley and it's one of the three most dangerous regions in the entire country for flash floods.
16:20The river flooding nearly once every decade over the last 100 years.
16:24David, a short time ago, Texas's lieutenant governor saying that sirens may have made the difference, might have saved lives here.
16:32He said going forward, the state will pay for them.
16:35David.
16:35A lot of questions to be answered moving forward here.
16:39Matt Guttman, tonight are thanks to you as well.
16:40And as I mentioned, there's a massive search and rescue effort still underway tonight from volunteers and local first responders to National Guard and active duty forces.
16:49Tonight, our Mireya Villarreal flying with the U.S. Coast Guard in the air.
16:52The search teams above and tonight right here on the ground.
16:55They are not giving up.
16:56Tonight, across this ravaged flood zone, the painstaking search for the missing.
17:03And it's a race against the clock.
17:05We headed out with the U.S. Coast Guard and got a firsthand look at what they're up against.
17:11High above the Guadalupe River, the massive scope of this disaster is quickly revealed.
17:15Debris and devastation as far as the eye can see.
17:19Pilots searching with multiple cameras, including one with heat-detecting technology, scouring water and dense woods below.
17:27It is a very good camera that we have.
17:29And it's also an infrared camera, so we can find, you know, heat signatures, things like that.
17:34Out the back, equipment ready to go for a rescue.
17:37They've already helped save hundreds.
17:40We're going to do our best to try to rescue anybody that's, you know, still out there.
17:44That's what we're going to be out there to do.
17:45David, the mission to find the missing is weighing heavy on these communities.
17:50I've spoken with a number of search crews out in the field.
17:53They say they are holding out hope, but they are worried that time is running out.
17:58And the chances of finding anyone alive are grim.
18:02David?
18:03Maria Villarreal with us tonight as well.
18:05Maria, thank you.
18:06Tonight here in Texas, the new warnings and watch is up right now as we're on the air.
18:10Life-threatening flooding possible again tonight here.
18:13Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee, of course, tracking this again tonight for us.
18:16And Ginger, I know the people of Texas just aren't in the clear yet.
18:20That's right.
18:20David, believe it or not, that same slow-moving system that triggered the initial tragedy is still spinning
18:26and grabbing moisture and dropping thunderstorms that could have heavy rain with them.
18:30That's why we have a flood watch until 7 p.m. for the entire region, including Kerrville, down to San Antonio, through tonight at 7 p.m.
18:37There have even been flash flood warnings.
18:39This is for locally up to 10 inches of rain.
18:41Now, things do get a little better, but this is going on top of the same region that had 10 to 20 inches, you heard it, months' worth of rain in just one night.
18:50So the next couple of days, even if you get an inch or two inches, those rivers and creeks are already high.
18:55The good news is they've been in a bit of a drought so the dams can handle it.
18:58But, David, we even have flash flood warnings or watches right here in the northeast tonight with Philadelphia included.
19:03Tracking that as well. Ginger Zee with us. Ginger, we appreciate it.
19:08When we come back tonight, the other news this Monday evening.
19:10Border patrol agents ambushed while reporting for duty.
19:14More than 90 National Guard troops deployed during ice raids in Los Angeles.
19:17You'll see the pictures.
19:18And in New York City tonight, shark sightings forcing a well-known beach to close.
19:22Drones spotting multiple sharks just offshore.
19:24And we'll have more on that in a moment here.
19:26Tonight, an ambush targeting U.S. Border Patrol agents outside a facility in McAllen, Texas.
19:32Authorities say a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle opened fire this morning.
19:36The suspect killed in a shootout there.
19:38Three people were wounded, including two officers.
19:41When we come back here tonight, there are large-scale ice raids unfolding in Los Angeles.
19:45And the shark sightings off New York City closing a popular beach in a moment.
19:51Tonight, heavily armed National Guard troops are helping ice agents
19:54during new immigration raids in downtown Los Angeles.
19:57The Pentagon tonight confirming more than 90 National Guard members
20:00and more than a dozen military vehicles have been deployed near MacArthur Park.
20:04Mayor Karen Bass confronting ice, calling their presence, quote,
20:07absolutely outrageous.
20:09In New York City tonight, shark sightings repeatedly forcing parts of a popular beach to close.
20:14Drones spotting a shark just off Rockaway Beach in Queens today.
20:17Multiple sightings, in fact, forcing swimmers out of the water over the holiday weekend.
20:21When we come back here in Texas, the bravery of the children here.
20:27Before we go, the heart of the people here.
20:30The search and rescue operations, dedicated first responders not giving up,
20:34volunteers, children delivering supplies,
20:36and amid the destruction, the Texas state flag.
20:39Our thoughts are with all of the families here.
20:41I'm David Muir.
20:42Good night.
20:43Thank you for making World News Tonight with David Muir, America's most watched newscast.
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