And we begin tonight with more flooding

in parts of our area. This is

showing flooding at the Freo River. You

can see the rushing waters. Thank you

for joining us. I’m Mandy Noel. Tonight

we have team coverage on the Freo River

flooding. We have crews set up in Conan

and Lakey. And we also continue coverage

in Kerr County also dealing with severe

weather as crews try to continue search

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and recovery while dealing with severe

weather. There are several camps and RV

parks along the Freo River. Here’s a

look at just some of them. There are

also some children’s camps including the

HE butt Foundation camp. We know those

camps are safe tonight and we begin team

coverage in Lakey. That’s where we find

Texas Floods - Update 4

News4 San Antonio’s Jordan Elder. She’s

live with the latest there. Hey Jordan,

Mandy, we have been all over the viewing

area today getting a look at flooding

and I can tell you this is the highest

that we’ve seen it. We are just south of

Lake Texas. This is the Freo River. We

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are at the River Bluffs Cabins and so

we’re up on a hill. We are safe just

like all of the campers here. But as you

can see, this river is still rushing

down. Now, we got to talk to the owner,

Doug Shoemaker. He says this rain is

going to be helpful for the Freo River

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community. This is a medium flood based

on what he has seen over the years.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be

with people in Guadalupe and the

surrounding areas. The Frio River is a

different river system than the

Guadalupi. Um, this was actually an

answer to prayers by uh we’ve been

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praying for 7 years for some big rains.

We need this kind of uh rain here. It

helps the aquifers. It helps the

springs.

We also checked in on Garner State Park.

County officials were able to get

everyone notified early, so people

staying right along the river were able

to get to higher ground. We’re told even

though the water is muddy right now,

this rain is actually going to lead to

better conditions next week. water

you’ll be able to see straight through,

especially after what happened along the

Guadalupe River. Park officials say

communication was extra important this

morning.

25 years ago, we didn’t have the cell

phones. And so, we didn’t have the

opportunity to sit there and look at a

radar and go, “This is where it’s going.

This is what it’s happening.” So, the

technology today, it’s only going to

improve from here on out. to be able to

sit there and call and text a group of

people that’s in the area and say and

talk to the sheriff’s deputies and let

them know and post pictures so they can

see what’s coming down and gives us an

idea of what’s coming. It’s it’s a game

changer in our area.

We also stopped by Ualdi Memorial Park

where the sidewalk turned into kind of a

waterfall because the Leona River rose

today. We also got another view of the

Freo River in downstream in Canipa. Now,

the water levels are still ebbing and

flowing out here, but this is not

record-breaking right now. I want to

show you Mr. Shoemaker told us the most

water he has seen in this river, it went

halfway up this blue sign that says

river rules. So, obviously nowhere close

to that right now, but he said it’s

definitely something that they’re still

watching. And he told us all about the

communication system that property

owners along the Freo River use to help

notify each other in these situations.

We’re going to tell you more about those

coming up at 6.

Jordan, thank you. Another one of the

big camps in that area is Neil’s Lodges.

We continue our team coverage with News4

San Antonio’s Taylor Wartby who’s in

Conan and joins us with the latest

here in Concan in this small hill

country community. They are experiencing

floods from the Frio River that you can

see right behind me. Now, the population

is about 300 people, but the area brings

in a lot of tourists who go on vacation

to nearby camps. Neil’s Lodges, a

family-owned vacation spot on the Freo

River, is one of them. When water

started to overflow, surging through

roads, they made sure to evacuate

certain cabins, ones who were closest to

the river for safety. It

it’s a we’re thinking maybe a 12oot

raise here at Neil’s, which, you know,

it’s dissipated when it gets here. So,

um, it’s really, really needed, really

prayed for. And like I said before, I

say that with grace because we are so,

so devastated by what happened in

Kurville, but for us, this is prayed

for. We’ve had a drought for seven

something years. I think it’s probably

seven years really, if you get down to

it. And we needed this really bad.

Parts of Highway 127 near Neil’s Lodges

has been closed off just in case the

water came up over the bridge. We spoke

to assistant fire chief Rodney Jeff for

the Concan Volunteer Fire and EMS

department. He says the water has come

up to a high level. No one is allowed to

cross the bridge across the Freo River

and Jeff says they are taking extra

precautions.

They’re all gunshy after the deal in

Kurville and I don’t blame them.

Absolutely. But we’re making sure

everything’s good here. Uh anything that

people should know if they’re traveling

through this area?

If you can don’t come down here. After

years of drought, many people in the

area are welcoming the water, but

officials are saying stay away until the

water goes down. I’m Taylor Wharton

reporting.

Right now, everyone is still on high

alert in Kirk County. This is the latest

on the Hill Country flooding disaster.

There are now at least 131 confirmed

deaths across Texas, 106 in Kirk County.

Among them are 70 adults and 36

children. Right now, there are still

about 97 people missing in Kirk County,

according to Governor Abbott. Today, the

Kirk County Sheriff’s Office asked all

volunteers helping with rescue and

recovery efforts to move to higher

ground because of the incoming weather.

Tonight, News4 San Antonio’s Ethan TJO

is live in Ingram with the latest.

Ethan, what are you seeing there?

Well, Mandy, as you can see, I’m here

along the Guadalupe River where flood

warnings and heavy rainfall ended up

stopping search and rescue operations

for the second straight day. Here in

Ingram, first responders were called off

by another round of storms that made its

way to the area, raising the water a few

feet higher along the Guadalupe River.

Operation managers at Ingram Volunteer

Fire Department say this extra round of

river flow could be either helpful or

detrimental for search and rescue

efforts moving forward. we’ll get back

on the the areas that we know we that

needs more work and uh then we’ll we’ll

go from there.

They also told me that setbacks are a

frustrating scenario for first

responders who are anxious to get out

and help. Recon teams are still

stationed along the river to watch for

any significant changes in those water

levels. Until then, uh, we’re told that

search and rescue operations are

expected to continue tomorrow at around

8:00 a.m. From Ingram, I’m Ethan Trejo.

Governor Abbott gave another update

today on the flooding that has

devastated our area and other parts of

central Texas. He talked in more detail,

too, about the number of people still

missing in the Kurville area, which he

said was 97. He says he’s hopeful that

some of the people considered missing

are eventually found to have survived.

Even though we are reporting 97 people

missing, there’s no certainty that all

97 of those people were swept away swept

away by the storm.

The governor also says the goal is to

find every single person who passed away

so their families can have closure.

Tonight, new details on how the flooding

and evacuation unfolded at Camp Mystic.

camp spokesperson tells the Washington

Post executive director Dick Eastland

did receive the urgent alert from the

National Weather Service, but

evacuations did not begin until about an

hour later. 27 campers and counselors

died when the camp was overtaken by

flood waters on July 4th as the

Guadalupe Rivers rose to historic

heights. At Mystic, the problem was not

just the rising Guadalupe River, but

also a rising creek. Cypress Creek and

the Guadalupe meet within the 725 acre

camp. As the Post explains, the current

from the creek was so fast it likely

reversed the flow of the Guadalupe

River. This caused the flood waters to

widen and move uphill, reaching cabins

both within and outside of areas in

high-risisk flood zones. It also created

a swirl around Bubble in and the twins

cabins. Jeff Carr, a spokesperson for

the Eastland family, tells the Post, “At

1:14 a.m., Dick Eastland received the

urgent alert from the National Weather

Service on his phone.” At 1:35, other

family members who run the camp were

alerted and told to assess the

situation. The historic rise of the

river began roughly around 2:00 a.m.

When the rain didn’t let up, cabin

evacuations began around 2:30 that

morning. Dick Eastland died trying to

evacuate bubble in. No one from the

cabin has been found alive. Dick’s

youngest son, Edward Eastland, evacuated

the twins cabins. According to the post,

Edward was later found clinging to a

tree with 10 to 12 campers. They all

survived. Commissioners in Kerr County

held their first official court hearing

since the devastating floods. Tonight,

there are still questions about whether

the county was prepared. County

officials say they’ll investigate their

emergency alert systems, flood warnings,

and evacuation protocols. County

officials say the search for people

could last for months. I’ve been assured

by the governor and the president, you

know, we will have the resources to get

the job done. You know, how long is it

going to take? You know, who knows? You

know, I think we’ll still go strong for

another month or two up to maybe 6

months winding down uh as as as we move

on.

Commissioners also say they’ve been

getting death threats over the tragedy.

They’re asking for more security as the

response is being investigated. And

don’t forget, News4 San Antonio is

partnering with the Salvation Army for

Sinclair Car’s Texas tragedy relief. So

far, we’ve raised over $170,000.

Just scan the QR code to help provide

meals for first responders and survivors

who desperately need our help.

Continuing our coverage tonight on the

flooding along the Freo River. News4 San

Antonio’s Emma Allen is live in Concan

with the latest that we’re seeing there.

Well, we are just off of Highway 127,

right outside of Concan, and you can see

this is what we’re seeing. The road is

closed for obvious reasons. That is the

Freo River that is running really high

up over that road. I just spoke to some

locals in the area who tell me that that

is actually a bridge. So, this water is

that high. If you can see right there,

we’ve seen some logs, some trees, uh a

lot of debris in that area. You can see

there’s actually a tree that’s stuck

over there that looks to be uh getting

pushed around by the water. We were just

up the road a little bit ago looking at

Brushy Creek that actually runs into

this, but this road right here is uh

seeing a lot higher water right now. And

you can see that current is just

massive. Uh we are looking for more

areas like this. We’re actually trying

to get uh deeper into Uvaldi County so

we can see more roads like this, but

unfortunately this road’s blocked off.

Reporting in Uvaldi County, I’m Emma

Allen. With so many questions

surrounding the time it took to evacuate

during the flooding, the Washington Post

is reporting that the director of Camp

Mystic did not begin evacuations until

an hour after receiving an urgent alert

on his phone. 27 girls and counselors

died at the camp, including director

Dick Eastland. The News4 IT team’s

reporter Jay Avala is looking into that

report and reaching out to the Eastland

family. Tonight, a representative tells

him the article was premature. Jay joins

us now with the latest. Well, Mandy, the

spokesman tells me the Washington Post

article was based on a conversation with

Eastland’s son, Richard Jr., the day

after the flood, and the family is still

piecing together their own timeline from

that chaotic morning. The Washington

Post is reporting that at 1:14 a.m.,

Dick Eastland received an alert from the

National Weather Service on his phone,

warning of life-threatening flash

flooding. And at 1:35, other families

who help run the camp were alerted with

walkietalkies. The historic rise of the

river began around 2:00 a.m. When the

rain did not let up, cabin evacuations

began around 2:30 a.m. Dick Eastland

died trying to evacuate girls from the

cabin called Bubble In. No one from that

cabin has been found alive. Jeff Carr, a

spokesman for the Eastland family, tells

News 4 Dick Eastland was outside

assessing the flooding along with a

night watchman shortly after the 114

a.m. National Weather Service alert and

says it’s logical he got the warning

because Eastland typically received them

on his phone. But Carr says it’s too

early to say when staff members began

evacuating children because people

weren’t looking at their watches. He

says the Eastland family wants to

release a detailed timeline of their own

with help from that night watchmen.

We’re working on it. Carr said the only

audience they care about are the

families of the victims. Camp Mystic

passed a state inspection 2 days before

the flood and according to inspection

records, the camp had an emergency plan

that included flood evacuations and that

staff and volunteers were aware of the

plan. We’re continuing to investigate

all angles of the flooding and we’ll

update any new information as we press

for answers. For the News4 Eye team, I’m

Jay Avala.

We are taking another look at exclusive

aerial video in Uvaldi County from your

South Texas dealer, Sky 4. This is the

Freo River near Conan and areas near

Garner State Park. You can see the water

in the river moving very quickly

tonight. And this is an aerial video

that you’ll only see here on News 4.

Rising water once again cut off access

to parts of Kirk County. still reeling

from the deadly July 4th floods. News4

San Antonio’s Yami Bhin is on one of the

back roads into Hunt and she continues

our team coverage.

We were trying to get to Hunt to the

area where the camps were flooded over.

We took 1340, but this is as far as we

could go. Benson’s crossing where the

water of the Guadalupe River is now

stopping us from going further. FM 1340

is one of the main roads leading into

the area near Camp Mystic where tragedy

struck just 10 days ago. We took this

road to see how the Guadalupe River was

behaving. But like many others, we had

to stop at Benson’s crossing. Flood

water was at least 2 feet over the road,

stopping everyone. People hoping to

return home were forced to wait. Some

told us even if they made it past this

point, other crossings ahead were

completely underwater. Curtis Wright had

been sitting here for a couple of hours.

He told us he ventured out for supplies

only to find himself cut off.

Went into town, did my errands, and of

course it starts raining again. On the

way out, I could tell that last night

from yesterday’s rains, the north work

seemed to have flooded more. So, I

thought I would come around the back

way. I’m just waiting to see if it’ll go

down cuz hopefully the rain stopped and

the river will drop and I can get home.

I just have two crossings. While the

wait is frustrating, many here told us

they know they’re the fortunate ones

alive and able to go home eventually,

even if not tonight. in Kirk County.