International

Texas floods: 161 people still missing in one county

Published

5 months ago

July 9, 2025

Texas floods: 161 people still missing in one county

At least 161 people are still missing in a single Texas county four days after deadly and devastating flash floods hit parts of the state last week, Governor Greg Abbott said, as hope fades for survivors to be found alive.

The missing in the hard-hit Kerr County include five campers and one counsellor from Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls summer camp located on the banks of Guadalupe river.

At least 109 people have died in the disaster, including 94 in the Kerrville area alone, Abbott said in a news conference on Tuesday.

Texas is not alone. New Mexico saw a flash flood emergency as well, with the National Weather Service (NWS) warning of intense flooding on Tuesday night.

In Texas, frantic search and rescue efforts continue, with Abbott vowing emergency crews “will not stop until every missing person is accounted for”.

Abbott added that it is very likely more missing will be added to the list in the coming days, and urged people to report anyone they think is unaccounted for.

General Thomas Suelzer from the Texas National Guard said search efforts include Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters with rescue hoists.

He said there are 13 Black Hawk helicopters helping in the search effort, including four that arrived from Arkansas. He added that authorities were also using reaper drones.

Responders from various agencies are working together on rescue efforts, including agents from border patrol, the FBI and the National Guard.

More than 250 responders from various agencies have been assigned to the Kerrville area alone to help with search and rescue.

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One of those rescue volunteers, named Tim, told the BBC he has never seen any destruction at this scale before.

“I’ve done the floods down in East Texas and Southeast Texas, and hurricanes, and this is a nightmare,” he said.

Another rescue volunteer, named Justin, compared the effort to “trying to find a single hay in a haystack”.

“There’s a wide trail of destruction for miles, and there’s not enough cadaver dogs to go through all of it,” he told the BBC.

“It’s hard to access a lot of it with heavy machinery. Guys are trying to pick at it with tools and hands, and they’re not even putting a dent in it – not for lack of effort.”

Questions have been raised about whether authorities provided adequate flood warnings before the disaster, and why people were not evacuated earlier.

Experts say there were a number of factors that contributed to the tragedy in Texas, including the extreme weather, the location of the holiday homes and timing.

The governor, who had spent part of the day surveying the flood zone, said authorities had issued a storm warning and knew about a possible flash flood, but “didn’t know the magnitude of the storm”.

No one knew it would lead to a “30-foot high tsunami wall of water”, he said.

The governor responded to a question about who was to “blame” for the enormous death toll, saying: “That’s the word choice of losers.”

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He made a sports analogy, saying American football teams make mistakes; champion teams are the ones who don’t “point fingers”.

Most of the victims died in Kerr County, where the Guadalupe River was swollen by torrential downpours before daybreak on Friday, the July Fourth public holiday.

Camp Mystic had earlier confirmed at least 27 girls and staff were among the dead.

Those who survived are now focused on trying to rebuild.

Justin Brown has lived along the Guadalupe River for more than 25 years.

A week ago, he lived in his mobile home at the Blue Oak RV Park with his two young daughters and dog. Now, there is a huge puddle where his home once stood – his RV swept away in the floods.

“We were one of the few parks that got almost everybody out,” Mr Brown told the BBC as he described the efforts of his landlord and emergency workers, who evacuated almost all of the park’s residents.

Looking out over the empty lot where his home once stood – now just debris – he said he hopes to move back in as soon as he can.

President Donald Trump will travel to the flood-ravaged areas with First Lady Melania Trump on Friday.

Separately, in New Mexico, the NWS declared a flash flood emergency on Tuesday and told residents of Ruidoso to be on high alert for flooding.

Officials there are already working to rescue people trapped in floodwaters and houses are reportedly being washed away.

A flood wave on the Rio Ruidoso has reached 15 feet (4.5m), the NWS in Albuquerque said in a post on X.

The waters receded about two hours later, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

Officials had to perform some swift boat rescues and some people were unaccounted for as of Tuesday evening.

Texas floods: 161 people still missing in one county

BBC

Related Topics:Floods missing People Texas

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US Embassy Warns Nigerians Against Visa Fraud, Threatens Permanent Entry Ban

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December 16, 2025

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US Embassy Warns Nigerians Against Visa Fraud, Threatens Permanent Entry Ban

The United States Embassy in Abuja has issued a stern warning to Nigerians against involvement in visa fraud, cautioning that providing false information or submitting fake documents during the application process could result in a permanent ban from entering the United States.

In a post on its official X handle on Monday, the embassy emphasized, “Visa fraud has serious consequences. Lying or providing fake documents can lead to permanent visa bans under U.S. immigration law.”

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The warning coincided with a meeting between US Ambassador to Nigeria Richard Mills and Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar, where both leaders discussed bilateral relations and areas of cooperation between the two countries.

The embassy reaffirmed its commitment to working with Nigeria on issues of mutual concern, urging visa applicants to adhere strictly to the rules to avoid jeopardizing future travel opportunities.

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Trump Files $10bn Lawsuit Against BBC Over Edited Capitol Riot Documentary

Published

6 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Trends Admin

US President Donald Trump

Trump Files $10bn Lawsuit Against BBC Over Edited Capitol Riot Documentary

US President Donald Trump has filed a massive $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC, accusing the British broadcaster of defamation and election interference over a documentary that allegedly altered his January 6, 2021 Capitol riot speech.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday in a federal court in Miami, seeks damages of at least $5 billion on each of two counts, including defamation and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Trump, 79, said the action followed claims that the BBC documentary deliberately “put words in my mouth,” suggesting the broadcaster may have used artificial intelligence (AI) or deceptive editing techniques.

The documentary in question aired last year ahead of the 2024 US presidential election on the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme, Panorama. It featured an edited version of Trump’s speech delivered to supporters on January 6, 2021, shortly before the storming of the US Capitol, where lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

According to the lawsuit, the BBC spliced together two separate portions of the speech, making it appear that Trump explicitly urged supporters to attack the Capitol. Trump’s legal team described the broadcast as a “malicious and deceptive” act aimed at damaging his political prospects.

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“The formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said. The statement further accused the broadcaster of pursuing a “leftist political agenda” in its coverage of Trump.

The controversy triggered significant fallout within the British Broadcasting Corporation, which serves a global audience. Last month, the BBC director-general and the organisation’s top news executive resigned after internal documents revealed the extent of the editing error, sparking public and political backlash in the UK.

Trump’s lawsuit claims the edited clip was “fabricated and aired one week before the election” to influence voters against him. While the BBC has denied claims of legal defamation, its chairman, Samir Shah, sent Trump a formal letter of apology. Shah also told a UK parliamentary committee that the broadcaster should have responded more quickly after the error was identified in an internal memo later leaked to the media.

The legal action marks the latest in a series of Trump lawsuits against media organisations, several of which have ended in multi-million-dollar settlements, reinforcing Trump’s aggressive legal stance against what he describes as unfair media treatment.

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(UPDATED) Sydney Bondi Shooting: Anti-Semitic Attack Leaves 16 Dead, 40 Injured

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1 day ago

December 15, 2025

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(UPDATED) Sydney Bondi Shooting: Anti-Semitic Attack Leaves 16 Dead, 40 Injured

Two alleged gunmen responsible for the deadly shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach were a father and son, police confirmed on Monday, as Australia mourned its worst gun violence in nearly three decades.

The 50-year-old father was killed at the scene, bringing the total deaths to 16, while his 24-year-old son remains in critical condition in hospital. The pair have been identified by local media as Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram.

Authorities described Sunday’s attack as a targeted antisemitic incident, which left 40 people hospitalized, including two police officers in serious but stable condition. Victims ranged in age from 10 to 87.

The incident occurred at a packed Hanukkah event attended by roughly 1,000 people in a small park near Bondi Beach. Witnesses reported that the attack lasted approximately 10 minutes, sending attendees scattering across the sand and nearby streets.

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A bystander hero, identified as Ahmed al Ahmed, tackled and disarmed one of the shooters during the attack, saving lives. The 43-year-old fruit shop owner, who was shot twice, underwent surgery, and a fundraising page supporting him raised over A$350,000.

Police stated that the father had held a firearms license since 2015 with six registered weapons. Home Minister Tony Burke noted the father arrived in Australia on a student visa in 1998, while his son is an Australian-born citizen.

Videos from the scene indicated that the attackers used what appeared to be a bolt-action rifle and a shotgun, although authorities have not released full details about the firearms.

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