KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — More heavy rains in Texas on Sunday paused a weeklong search for victims of catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River and led to high-water rescues elsewhere as officials warned that the downpours could again cause waterways to surge.
It was the first time a new round of severe weather had paused the search since the July Fourth floods, which killed at least 129 people. Authorities believe more than 160 people may still be missing in Kerr County.
In Kerrville, where local officials about the warnings given to residents, authorities went door-to-door to some homes after midnight early Sunday to alert people that flooding was again possible. Authorities also pushed alerts to the phones of those in the area.
Emergency crews have suspended their search for victims of catastrophic flooding in central Texas amid new warnings that additional rain will again cause waterways to surge. The Associated Press' Gabriela Aoun Angueira reports from the scene.
Ingram Fire Department officials ordered search crews to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County until further notice, warning the potential for a flash flood is high. Search-and-rescue efforts were expected to resume on Monday, depending on river flow, fire department spokesman Brian Lochte said.
“We’re working with a few crews and airboats and SAR (search-and-rescue) boats just in case,†Lochte said.
Latest flooding damages dozens of homes
Gov. Greg Abbott said on X that the state was making rescues in San Saba, Lampasas and Schleicher counties and that evacuations were taking place in a handful of others.
The latest round of flooding damaged about 100 homes and knocked down untold lengths of cattle fencing, said Ashley Johnson, CEO of the Hill Country Community Action Association, a San Saba-based nonprofit.
“Anything you can imagine in a rural community was damaged,†she said. “Our blessing is it was daylight and we knew it was coming.â€
With more rain on the way, county officials ordered everyone living in flood-prone areas near the San Saba River to evacuate. Johnson said people were being moved to the San Saba Civic Center, which has become a safe, high place for people to receive aid and shelter.
“Everyone is in some way personally affected by this,†she said. “Everyone is just doing what they can to help their neighbors.”
The group includes cynologists with rescue dogs among other experts. They set off from the military airport in Kbely, Prague, passing through the U.S. airbase Ramstein in Germany.
AP Video / July 13, 2025A wide-ranging weather system brings heavy rains
The weather system brought multiple rounds of heavy rains and slow-moving storms across a widespread area, pushing rivers and streams over their banks. Heading into the afternoon and evening, the heaviest rains were expected along the I-35 corridor and east, said meteorologist Patricia Sanchez from the National Weather Service’s Fort Worth office.
“A few spots might see up to 2 to 4 (inches per hour), pretty much through the evening, before the rain, the coverage of rain and the intensity of the rain, slowly decreases,†Sanchez said.
Forecasters warned that the Guadalupe River could rise to nearly 15 feet (4.6 meters) by Sunday afternoon, about five feet above flood stage and enough to put the Highway 39 bridge under water in Hunt, the small town where along the river.
“Numerous secondary roads and bridges are flooded and very dangerous,†a weather service warning said.
The rains were also causing other waterways to swell farther north in Texas, where emergency crews rescued one motorist who was left stranded in waist-high rapids on a submerged bridge over the Bosque River. The man leaned onto the vehicle for support as crews tried to reach him with life jackets.
“He drove into it and didn’t realize how deep it was,†said Jeff Douglas, president of the McGregor Volunteer Fire Department. “Luckily he was able to stand next to the vehicle.â€
The torrents that washed away so many Texas lives have brought a flood of volunteers in their wake. And for those picking up the pieces, those volunteers have brought hope to a devastated landscape.
(AP Video/Gabriela Aoun Angueira / July 13, 2025)In the west Texas city of Sonora, authorities called for evacuations of some neighborhoods due to rising flood waters. In a video posted Sunday afternoon on Facebook, Mayor Juanita Gomez said some water rescues had taken place and a temporary shelter for residents had been opened in the city’s civic center.
Sonora is located about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northwest of Kerrville.
Kerrville residents get support from police, alerts
Under heavy rain, Matthew Stone was clearing branches and a log from a storm sewer in front of his home on Guadalupe Street in Kerrville on Sunday as several inches of water pooled up on the road.
Multiple houses on the street overlooking the Guadalupe River were severely impacted by the July 4 floods, and Stone had to pull his older neighbors from their home before water overtook it. He said he felt safe for now.
“My wife was freaking out, that’s for sure, but as long as that river is not coming down, we’ll be all right,†he said. “The cops have been coming back and forth, we’re getting lots of alerts, we’re getting a lot of support.â€
Just before daybreak on the Fourth of July, the rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the Guadalupe River, washing away homes and vehicles. Ever since, searchers have used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads.
The floods laid waste to the . The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps and campgrounds, including the century-old, all-girls Christian summer camp.
Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost .
The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that .
The sheer amount of rain was overwhelming. Former NOAA chief scientist Ryan Maue, a private meteorologist, calculated on July 5 that the storm had dropped 120 billion gallons of water on Kerr County, which received the brunt of the storm.
___ Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago, Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York, Juan Lozano in Houston and Michael Weissenstein in Dobbs Ferry, New York contributed to this report.
