Camp staff went to bed following what seemed like routine flood warnings. Within hours, they were fighting for survival. “Chaos struck almost instantaneously.”

Items lie scattered inside a cabin at Camp Mystic after deadly flooding in Kerr County, Texas, U.S., July 5, 2025. REUTERS/Sergio Flores A drone view shows the Guadalupe River and damage from flooding near Camp Mystic in Hunt,

The heavy rain that turned a river in Texas into a raging wall of water was fueled by unique atmospheric conditions, according to meteorologists and climate scientists.

Flash flood alley is a curved-shaped region about 300 miles long and 50 miles wide in central/south-central Texas, extending from north of Dallas to southwest of San Antonio. Its location, weather patterns, and geology often combine to create devastating floods.

The death toll from the devastating floods across central Texas surpassed 90 as dozens of people remain missing. In Kerr County, at least 48 adults and 27 children died, according to officials.

The search for survivors continues in central Texas after a wave of floodwater filled camp cabins to their roofs, trapped people in trailer homes and overwhelmed cars before dawn on the Fourth of July.