"It Rose 26 Feet in 45 Minutes in the Middle of the Night"

A time-lapse video shows a Texas river going from a low trickle to a raging flood that obliterates trees and infrastructure in just over three minutes. The footage is from the catastrophic flash floods that hit central Texas around the Fourth of July, and the numbers are staggering: water levels rose 26 feet in 45 minutes in the middle of the night. As of the recording, 69 people were confirmed dead, including 21 children, with dozens more still missing.

The Scale of the Disaster

The flooding was concentrated along the Guadalupe River near Kerrville, Texas, where 15 inches of rain fell in just hours. The water rose so fast and so high that it swallowed entire roads, cabins, and summer camps. One of the hardest-hit locations was Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls, where 27 girls were initially reported missing. A camp director and a counselor both lost their lives trying to save children. One man, Dick, the father-in-law of the camp director, died after getting into a Tahoe to grab three girls and bring them to safety.