Unredacted 911 Calls Reveal Minute‑by‑Minute Terror During Deadly Texas Flash Floods

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article contains audio descriptions and excerpts from 911 calls that some readers may find distressing. Listener discretion is advised.

Heartbreaking emergency calls recorded by the Kerrville Police Department chronicle the catastrophic flash flooding that struck Texas Hill Country in the predawn hours of July 4. Released in the order they were received, the unredacted recordings create a minute‑by‑minute audio record of a night when water rose faster than rescue teams could respond.

Emergency Calls Chronicle Rapid Flooding

The earliest calls carry an uneasy calm: residents waking to the sound of water and reporting growing danger. At 2:52 a.m. CT, Scott Towery, general manager of the River Inn Resort, called to report more than 100 guests on site as floodwaters surged. In a follow‑up call he compared the situation to one of the region's worst floods, saying the water levels were "like the 1998 flood."

Scenes Of Desperation

The recordings show a rapid escalation from warnings to panic. Many calls were little more than open lines filled with the sound of rushing water; others captured frantic pleas for rescue as water climbed from inches to feet inside homes, cabins and camp buildings. Cars became unstable rafts with people stranded on roofs, beds and air‑conditioning units floated away, and some cabins broke free and drifted like boats.

"We cannot. There's water everywhere. We cannot move."

One caller awakened to water flooding his apartment and pleaded, sobbing, that he could not swim and could not get out. A distraught caller trapped in a room described water rising to his head and told dispatchers he could not climb to the roof. In several calls, lines end abruptly as connections break or dispatchers must move to the next emergency.

Camps Devastated

Two summer camps became focal points of the tragedy. Camp Mystic, an all‑girls Christian camp on the Guadalupe River, lost 25 girls and two counselors after cabins and campgrounds flooded. The first call from Camp Mystic arrived at 3:57 a.m., with reports of campers stranded on a hill while cabins filled across the bridge. Camp La Junta, a boys' camp on the South Fork of the Guadalupe River, also reported children trapped as cabins began to cave in.

Residents downstream reported finding children swept from the camp. One caller told dispatchers, "We've already got two little girls who have come down the river, and we've gotten to them," while a Camp Mystic director later said as many as 20 to 40 people were missing.

Dispatch Response And Aftermath

Kerrville's telecommunications center had just two operators on duty when calls began at 2:52 a.m. Police Chief Chris McCall said the center answered 435 calls over the next six hours, including more than 100 calls between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Some calls were transferred to nearby dispatch centers to help manage volume, and many lines were disconnected after dispatchers collected basic critical information and could offer no further help by phone.

Chief McCall acknowledged that some callers did not survive and praised the telecommunications staff for perseverance under extraordinary pressure. Officials released the recordings to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests and warned the public the unredacted tapes are highly distressing.

Accountability, Lawsuits And Policy Changes

Families of more than a dozen Camp Mystic victims have filed lawsuits against the camp and its owners. Attorney Mark Lanier, representing some families, said the 911 recordings could shed light on what happened while also deepening parents' grief. Texas lawmakers later enacted new camp safety laws in September to strengthen disaster preparedness and streamline emergency response; Camp Mystic's owners said they plan to exceed the new requirements when a portion of the camp reopens.

The released calls form a harrowing chronicle of a night when floodwaters rose faster than many could escape and when emergency systems were overwhelmed by the volume and speed of the disaster.