Texas flooding live updates: 95 dead in Kerr County, at least 120 dead in the state
At least 120 people are dead from the devastating flooding in the Texas Hill Country.
Kerr County was hit the hardest, with at least 95 deaths, including 36 children. President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration for the county and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the ground there.
Search and rescue operations are ongoing.
120 dead in Texas
The statewide death toll has climbed to 120, with 172 people still considered missing, officials said.
Abbott announces next legislative session will discuss improving early warning systems
Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday released the planned agenda for an upcoming special legislative session.
Four of the 18 agenda items were related to devastating floods in the Texas Hill Country.
The flood-related agenda items included legislation to improve flood warning systems, flood emergency communications, relief funding for hill country floods and natural disaster preparation & recovery.
"We delivered on historic legislation in the 89th Regular Legislative Session that will benefit Texans for generations to come," said Abbott. "There is more work to be done, particularly in the aftermath of the devastating floods in the Texas Hill Country. We must ensure better preparation for such events in the future."
Abbott’s Special Session to take place on Monday at 12:00 p.m. CT
Kickoff meeting for Kerr County warning system project was planned for mid-July
A Kerrville-area river authority executed a contract last month for a flood warning system that would’ve been used to help with emergency response, local government officials said in response to a request by ABC News.
"An initial kickoff meeting was scheduled for mid-July," an unidentified spokesperson for the area’s Joint Information Center wrote.
95 dead in Kerr County, including 36 kids
In hard-hit Kerr County, the death toll has climbed to 95, including 36 children, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a news conference Wednesday.
The statewide death toll stands at 118.
At least 173 missing in Texas
At least 173 people are missing in Texas in the wake of the devastating flooding.
The vast majority of the missing -- 161 people -- are in hard-hit Kerr County.
Ten were reported missing in Travis County and another two are missing in Burnet County.
First the rain, then the flood: How Camp Mystic campers woke to devastation
The thunder and lighting came to Camp Mystic first, but that was normal. The storm and the driving rain at the Texas camp woke up some of the campers, including Georgia and Eloise Jones, at about 1 a.m. on July 4.
Isolated showers may return to Hill Country, but flooding unlikely
The Texas Hill Country has a chance for a chance for a few isolated showers or storms on Wednesday afternoon.
As of early Wednesday, flash flooding is not expected, but it cannot be completely ruled out. The threat is low, and a repeat of the flooding on July Fourth is unexpected.
Inspectors signed off on Camp Mystic's emergency plans days before catastrophic flooding, records show
Just two days before devastating floods claimed at least 27 lives at Camp Mystic, the Texas Department of State Health Services signed off on the youth camp's emergency plans, according to records obtained by ABC News.
Abbott says 'losers' look for who is to blame
As questions swirl surrounding the timeline of who was notified about the flooding when, and if more could have been done, Gov. Greg Abbott punted on reporters’ questions about emergency notifications during a Tuesday news conference.
110 dead in Texas, 161 missing in Kerr County
There are 161 known people missing in hard-hit Kerr County, Gov. Greg Abbott said.
About 12 are missing in other counties, he said.
Death toll climbs to 108
At least 108 people have died in Texas from the devastating flooding.
The vast majority of fatalities -- 87 victims -- are in hard-hit Kerr County.
Man shares his emotional search for his missing parents
Armed with a walking stick, hiking boots and a lot of faith, Robert Brake Jr. is traversing the twisted trees and piles of debris, desperately searching for his parents who have been missing since their cabin washed away on Friday.
Noem thanks Trump for disaster relief, recalls visiting Camp Mystic
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the Federal Emergency Management Agency response has quickly "streamlined" to help flooding victims.
"FEMA went to an enhanced level immediately. But as soon as you signed the major disaster declaration, we were able to get them resources and dollars right away, just like you envisioned, through state lot grants to help them with cleanup," Noem said to President Donald Trump at a Cabinet meeting.
At one point, Noem appeared emotional when she shared the story of visiting Camp Mystic, where she consoled several grieving family members.
87 dead in Kerr County, 6 still missing from Camp Mystic
Eighty-seven people, including 30 children, have died in hard-hit Kerr County from the devastating flooding, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Tuesday.
Dad with deadly brain cancer that kills in a year is cancer free after taking new drug
A breakthrough drug is fighting brain cancer head-on.
Glioblastoma is widely considered the deadliest form of brain cancer, killing over 10,000 Americans each year. There is no cure for the highly aggressive disease — many patients survive just nine months after diagnosis.
Ben Trotman was diagnosed with glioblastoma in October 2022 at 40.
Treatment focuses on managing symptoms and extending life via surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible and radiation therapy and chemotherapy to destroy cancer cells.
Now, researchers from University College London Hospitals are recruiting glioblastoma patients for a trial of the immunotherapy drug ipilimumab. Sold under the brand name Yervoy, the monoclonal antibody stimulates the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells.
Oncologists are optimistic since a UK father shows no signs of having a tumor after he took ipilimumab before his glioblastoma treatment.
Ben Trotman was diagnosed with glioblastoma in October 2022 at 40.
“The crucial element of this trial is that patients will have their immune system boosted by the drug before they have any other treatment, when they are fit and well enough to tolerate the immunotherapy,” said Dr. Paul Mulholland, the consultant medical oncologist leading the trial.
“We saw with Ben, the one patient recruited to the immunotherapy study, NeAT-GLIO, that he has had clear scans since having the treatment and the tumor hasn’t returned more than two and a half years later.”
Glioblastoma is widely considered the deadliest form of brain cancer, killing over 10,000 Americans each year.
Trotman met with Mulholland, who enrolled him in a clinical trial for ipilimumab. He was the first patient in the world — and the only person in the trial — to take the drug before glioblastoma treatment.
“Getting this diagnosis was the most traumatic experience,” said Trotman’s wife, Emily.
“We were grappling with the fact that Ben had gone from being apparently perfectly healthy to having months to live.”
After taking the drug, Ben underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Two years and eight months later, his scans are clear.
“It is very unusual to have a clear scan with glioblastoma, especially when he didn’t have the follow-up surgery that had been planned to remove all of the tumor that was initially visible on scans,” Mulholland said.
Ben and Emily Trotman wed in 2023, after he began his immunotherapy treatment.
“We hope that the immunotherapy and follow-up treatment Ben has had will hold his tumor at bay,” he added, “and it has so far, which we are delighted to see.”
In January 2023, months after his diagnosis, Ben married Emily. The couple welcomed a daughter, Mabel, earlier this year.
They enjoy taking her for walks along with their rescue dog, Jerry.
“We are trying to live as normal a life as possible,” Emily said.
“We are in a unique position of which there is no precedent and which comes with a great deal of uncertainty,” she continued. “We want to live each day as if it were our last, but we also want to plan for the future, which we hope to have.”
Researchers plan to recruit 16 glioblastoma patients like Ben over 18 months.
After taking ipilimumab, the trial participants will undergo radiotherapy and chemotherapy and perhaps surgery depending on the extent of their disease.
Dr. Paul Mulholland and Dame Siobhain McDonagh, who raised funds for the new clinical trial of ipilimumab.
The trial is being funded by Dame Siobhain McDonagh, a member of the British Parliament, whose sister died of glioblastoma in 2023.
“My beloved sister Margaret was appalled to discover that there had been no advances in brain cancer treatment for decades when she was diagnosed with glioblastoma,” McDonagh said. “Changing this was Margaret’s final campaign and one that I have continued in her memory.”
Treatment will take place at the NIHR UCLH’s Clinical Research Facility at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.
“I am delighted that this new trial, with the same immunotherapy drug I received, is going ahead and others will have the opportunity to take part,” Ben said. “It will give people newly diagnosed with glioblastoma some hope.”
