Heavy rains in Kerr County and elsewhere in Central Texas have caused severe flooding and loss of life. (City of Kerrville Facebook page/Courtesy Photo)

Heavy rains unleashed a “catastrophic” and deadly flood Friday on the Guadalupe River in Central Texas, prompting evacuations and a frantic search for missing people.

At least 13 people were killed in the flood and more are missing, Kerr County officials said at a news conference Friday, as both state and county officials emphasized many unknowns remain.

As of Friday afternoon, 23 girls from Camp Mystic, an all-girls camp in the Texas Hill Country, were unaccounted for, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. Raging floodwaters forced numerous camps in the area to evacuate as cabins filled with water.

Rescue and response teams with up to 500 people and 14 helicopters combed the area Friday for missing people and children, Patrick said. Searches will continue throughout the night. All children at two other area camps, Cypress Lake and Senior Hill, were accounted for.

No details have been released about the victims’ identities, pending notification of family.

“This is a catastrophic flooding event in Kerr County,” the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook. “The entire county is an extremely active scene.”

Around 4 a.m. Friday the Guadalupe River rose about 26 feet in 45 minutes, Patrick said.

“It was a dry bed, it had been dry, there wasn’t a lot to absorb it,” Patrick said. “It was a destructive flood, taking property and, sadly, lives.”

Waters washed out roads and led to widespread evacuations in Kerrville, a city of about 25,000, roughly 100 miles west of Austin. A Walmart was turned into a temporary reunification center Friday morning.

Residents crowded into shelters, some with as many as 200 people, said Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“We’re able to bring in food and water and supplies to them,” Martin said. “It’s just taking time to get them out of there.”

Search and recovery efforts will ramp up as the waters recede, according to the city of Kerrville. Residents were urged to shelter in place and not attempt to travel. Anyone along creeks, streams and the Guadalupe River should seek higher ground, the sheriff’s office said.

Bodies of children and adults have been found throughout the area, Patrick said. Some were in cars that had been washed down from upstream, he said.

The Texas Military Department and other local and state agencies are assisting with search and rescue efforts, Martin said.

“It’s a tragic event,” he said. “It’s gonna be a mass casualty event. We know that, we’re prepared. We’ve moved resources into the area. This is a Texas response.”

As floodwaters rose overnight, multiple children’s summer camps evacuated to higher ground.

“If you have not been personally contacted then your daughter is accounted for,” according to a statement from Camp Mystic read by Patrick at the news conference.

Some roads are impassible due to flooding. Once roads are clear buses will pick up children and an announcement will go out to families so they can be reunited, Patrick said.

People posted photographs of missing loved ones on social media and begged for help finding them. Photographs and videos showed cars floating down roads, floodwaters gushing over dams and families wading through knee-deep water.

Much of Central Texas was under a flash flood warning on Friday, with some spots receiving up to 15 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service.

“This is a very dangerous and life-threatening flood event along the Guadalupe River! Move to higher ground!” the weather service warned Friday morning.

Gov. Greg Abbott said on X the state is deploying all available resources to Kerr County, including water rescue teams, the National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“The immediate priority is saving lives,” Abbott said.

The city’s annual Fourth of July celebration on the river was canceled because of the flooding. Festival organizers instead opened the Arcadia Live theater as a shelter.

Early Friday morning, the Guadalupe River near the town of Hunt had reached its second-highest height on record, exceeding the height reached in a 1987 flood that killed 10 teenagers and injured 33 others when a bus and van leaving a church camp encountered high waters.

At a news conference, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said this flood could exceed that based on the water line at his river property.

“This far surpasses the ‘87 flood,” he said.