Kerrville, Texas. Scores of rescuers were searching Saturday for children from a girls' camp and many others who were still missing after a wall of water rushed down a river in the Texas Hill Country during a powerful storm that killed at least 27 people, officials said. Among the dead were nine children.

The destructive fast-moving waters along the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet (8 meters) in just 45 minutes before dawn Friday, washing away homes and vehicles. The danger was not over as more heavy rains were expected Saturday and flash flood warnings and watches remained in effect for parts of central Texas.

Some 27 people were missing from Camp Mystic, Dalton Rice, city manager, said at a press conference Saturday. An unknown number of people at other locations were still unaccounted for.

“People need to know today will be a hard day,” said Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring, Jr.

Searchers used helicopters, boats, and drones to look for victims and to rescue stranded people. The total number of missing was not known but one sheriff said about 24 of them were girls who had been attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river.

Frantic parents and families posted photos of missing loved ones and pleas for information.

“The camp was completely destroyed,” said Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers at Camp Mystic. “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”

A raging storm woke up her cabin just after midnight Friday, and when rescuers arrived, they tied a rope for the girls to hold as they walked across a bridge with floodwaters whipping around their legs, she said.

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 27 were confirmed dead, including nine children. Authorities said about 850 people had been rescued.

The flooding in the middle of the night on the Fourth of July holiday caught many residents, campers, and officials by surprise. The Texas Hill Country, which sits northwest of San Antonio, is a popular destination for camping and swimming, especially around the summertime holiday.

AccuWeather said the private forecasting company and the National Weather Service sent warnings about potential flash flooding hours before the devastation.

“These warnings should have provided officials with ample time to evacuate camps such as Camp Mystic and get people to safety,” AccuWeather said in a statement that called Texas Hill County one of the most flash-flood-prone areas of the United States because of its terrain and many water crossings.

Officials defended their actions Friday while saying they had not expected such an intense downpour that was the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area.

One National Weather Service forecast earlier in the week had called for up to six inches (152 millimeters) of rain, said Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. “It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw,” he said.

Helicopters, Drones Used in Frantic Search for Missing
A river gauge near Camp Mystic recorded a 22-foot rise (6.7 meters) in about two hours, said Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office. The gauge failed after recording a level of 29 and a half feet (9 meters).

“The water’s moving so fast, you’re not going to recognize how bad it is until it’s on top of you,” Fogarty said.

More than 1,000 rescuers were on the ground. Rescue teams, helicopters and drones were being used, with some people being plucked from trees. U.S. Coast Guard helicopters were flying in to assist.

In Ingram, Erin Burgess woke to thunder and rain in the middle of the night Friday. Just 20 minutes later, water was pouring into her home from the river, she said. She described an agonizing hour clinging to a tree with her teenage son and waiting for the water to recede enough to walk up the hill to safety.

“Thankfully he’s over 6 feet tall. That’s the only thing that saved me, was hanging on to him,” she said.

“My son and I floated to a tree where we hung onto it, and my boyfriend and my dog floated away. He was lost for a while, but we found them,” she said.

Matthew Stone, 44, of Kerrville, said police came knocking on doors but that he had received no warning on his phone.

“We got no emergency alert. There was nothing," Stone said. Then "a pitch black wall of death.”