Live from London, this is Andrew Peach on the BBC World Service.
Welcome to NewsHour.
The Guadalupe River flows from Kerr County to San Antonio Bay in Texas.
It is a beauty spot which many American families flock to to celebrate the 4th of July,
canoeing and fly fishing.
After a long drought in the area, the weather was perfect.
And then, in the middle of the night, it started to rain.
What no one expected was that it would rain like never before,
raising the level of the Guadalupe by several metres in one hour.
The spots people had chosen to park their vehicles and camp were suddenly underwater.
An urgent evacuation began.
The authorities say the number of victims of the flash floods now stands at 27.
Among those still missing, girls who were attending a Christian summer camp.
Here's the Sheriff of Kerr County, Larry Leather.
We are now more than 24 hours into this tragic event,
and Kerrville Police Department, Kerrville Fire Department,
and Kerr County Sheriff's Office and other first responders from around Texas are continuing to conduct rescue and recovery operations along the Guadalupe River Corridor.
So far, we've evacuated over 850 uninjured people,
8 injured people, and have recovered 27 deceased fatalities at this time.
Of these 27, 18 are adults, nine are children.