22 FEET IN TWO HOURS

Tragedy struck the heart of Texas as flash floods ravaged the Hill Country in the dead of night on the Fourth of July, killing at least 32 and leaving dozens missing, including 27 young girls from a Christian summer camp. While families slept, the Guadalupe River surged more than 30 feet in a matter of hours—a disaster eerily predictable to those familiar with the region’s deadly flood history. Despite urgent warnings being issued hours before the peak, local officials failed to evacuate vulnerable river camps, claiming they were unaware of the severity. Yet government and private forecasters had raised the alarm, prompting serious questions about why action wasn’t taken sooner. As heroic search and rescue teams scrambled through debris and devastation, the nation was left to grapple with how such a catastrophic loss of life could happen again in a region all too familiar with waterborne tragedy.