Coast Guard Petty Officer Scott Ruskan rescued nearly 200 people including children from Camp Mystic during catastrophic Texas floods that have claimed 68 lives in Kerr County.

The deadly floods that struck Texas on the 4th of July caught local officials off guard as the torrential rains caused the Guadalupe River to overflow in minutes.

When the precipitation intensified in the early morning hours Friday, many people failed to receive or respond to flood warnings at riverside campsites known to be in the floodplain.

They clung to trees. They crawled out of windows and floated on mattresses. And they survived to tell the harrowing story of the catastrophic flooding that struck central Texas over the weekend and killed dozens,

A search for Texas flood survivors intensified as Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for nearly two dozen Texas counties.

Before heading to bed before the Fourth of July holiday, Christopher Flowers checked the weather while staying at a friend’s house along the Guadalupe River. Nothing in the forecast alarmed him. Hours later,

When too much rain falls for the ground to absorb, it runs downhill, pulled by gravity into streams, creeks and rivers.

(Reuters) -Founded by a University of Texas football coach, Camp Mystic where raging floodwaters swept away dozens of girls - killing several and leaving many others missing - was established along the banks of the Guadalupe River in central Texas hill country nearly a century ago "to provide young girls with a wholesome Christian atmosphere.