Desperate Calls Amid Catastrophic Flooding in Kerr County, Texas

Sat Dec 06 2025 19:10:30 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The haunting recordings of 911 calls reveal the panic and desperation as families faced rising floodwaters during the July Fourth holiday in Kerr County, Texas, resulting in tragic losses and a massive rescue operation.

In a tragic and chaotic incident during last summer's Fourth of July holiday, Kerr County, Texas, was inundated with catastrophic floods that led to over 400 frantic calls for help. Families found themselves trapped on rooftops, in trees, and in cabins as water levels rose unsustainably. Despite a large rescue effort, the natural disaster claimed at least 136 lives statewide, making it one of the deadliest floods in recent Texas history. The released 911 recordings showcase heartbreaking pleas for help, revealing the urgent need for better warning systems and disaster response strategies.

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Many of the voices were frantic and desperate. A few were steady and calm amid mounting, frightening danger, and in some cases, inescapable doom.

They came from families huddled on rooftops to escape rising, swirling waters, mothers panicked for the wellbeing of their children, and onlookers who heard people yell for help through the dark as they clung to treetops.

One man, stuck high in a tree as it began to break under the pressure of the floodwaters, asked emergency dispatchers for a helicopter rescue that never came.

Their pleas were among more than 400 calls for help across Kerr County last summer when devastating floods hit during the overnight hours on the July Fourth holiday. The recordings of the 911 calls were released Friday.

The sheer volume of calls overwhelmed two county emergency dispatchers on duty in the Texas Hill Country as catastrophic flooding inundated cabins and youth camps along the Guadalupe River. “There’s water filling up super fast, we can’t get out of our cabin,” a camp counselor said above the screams of campers in the background.

Amazingly, everyone in the cabin and the rest of the campers at Camp La Junta were rescued.

The flooding killed at least 136 people statewide during the holiday weekend, including at least 117 in Kerr County alone. Most were from Texas, but others came from Alabama, California, and Florida, according to a list released by county officials.

One woman called for help as the water closed in on her house near Camp Mystic, a century-old summer camp for girls, where 25 campers and two teenage counselors died. “We’re OK, but we live a mile down the road from Camp Mystic and we had two little girls come down the river,” she said in a shaky voice.

Many residents in the hard-hit Texas Hill Country said they were caught off guard and didn’t receive any warning when the floods overtopped the Guadalupe River. Kerr County leaders have faced scrutiny about whether they did enough right away, with reports indicating that some officials were asleep during the initial hours of the flooding.