Texas flood UPDATE: We have NEVER SEEN this before



A little over a week after the devastating flooding in the Texas Hill Country, over 120 residents have been confirmed dead, and over 100 are still missing.

Mercury One executive director J.P. Decker was on the ground in Texas, and while the circumstances couldn’t have been worse, what he saw was incredible.

“Walking through this area, there’s just regular locals and probably people from all around Texas just searching. I mean, they brought their own shovels, they brought their own pickaxes, and they’re just trying to, you know, help,” Decker tells Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck.

“There’s search and rescue teams from all over the country,” he continues, noting that it was much like the response in North Carolina.


“And you know, it’s interesting,” he says, “just talking with some of the locals about what they’re going through, and almost everyone said, ‘We’re Texans. We’re gonna get through it.’”

“We talked to all of our partners, and they said, ‘This is unlike any disaster we’ve ever seen.’ And some of them have been doing it for 15, 20 years. And they said the response from the administration helped us to be able to help them long-term,” he explains.

The National Guard was deployed as well as the Coast Guard, who Decker tells Glenn “got there within no time.”

“It’s cool to see when administrations do the job,” he says.

And it's not just the locals and state and federal government that’s helping out. Mercury One challenged their donors to raise $1 million — none of which would go to administrative costs — and they raised it within 48 hours.

“And usually with that, we do have to pay credit card fees. But the donors chose to pay $25,000 of fees to go help these people. And I think that alone tells you, one, how amazing our donors are, but how amazing your listeners are because they believe and they trust what we’re doing with the funds,” Decker says.

“You’re the first in, the last out every time,” Glenn responds, adding, “And it’s just so good.”

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Death of 9-year-old girl in Texas floods breaks hearts of Kansas City Chiefs ownership: 'I assure you God is near'



The Hunt family, the owners of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, confirmed that they have lost a young family member to the recent Kerr County, Texas, floods.

At least 104 people died as a result of the floods, recent reporting from ABC News showed, including 30 children in Kerr County.

One of the hardest areas hit also included a Christian girls' camp called Camp Mystic, where, as of Tuesday afternoon, five campers and one counselor were still deemed missing. The camp was wrecked by flooded waters from the Guadalupe River that also ravaged the nearby communities before dawn on Friday morning.

Lost in the fray of the disaster have been the personal stories, and the Hunt family's recent revelation is just as sad as any other.

'If your heart is broken, I assure you God is near. He is gentle with your wounds.'

Tavia Hunt, wife of Chiefs owner, Clark Hunt, confirmed the death of their 9-year-old cousin Janie Hunt in a social media post on Sunday.

According to Fox 4, Tavia Hunt explained that their cousin and several of her friends had their lives taken by the storm.

"Our hearts are broken by the devastation from the floods in Wimberley and the tragic loss of many lives — including a precious little Hunt cousin, along with several friend's little girls."

Tavia Hunt's message was even more heartbreaking as she talked about her faith.

RELATED: Brian Stelter suggests media partly to blame for 'warning fatigue' amid tragic flood deaths

The sun sets over the Guadalupe River on July 6, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused severe flooding along the Guadalupe River in Central Texas. Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

"If your heart is broken, I assure you God is near. He is gentle with your wounds," Hunt wrote on Instagram. "And He is still worthy — even when your soul is struggling to believe it."

With her message, Hunt expressed the sentiment that even though bad things happen, trusting in God does not mean one has to be "over the pain" but rather handling it in a way that is near and dear to their heart.

She concluded, "For we do not grieve as those without hope."

RELATED: Texas Rep. Chip Roy DEBUNKS Camp Mystic Texas flood myths

A search and rescue volunteer holds a T-shirt and backpack with the words Camp Mystic on them in Comfort, Texas, on July 6, 2025. Photo by Danielle Villasana for The Washington Post via Getty Images

The Hunt family also opened their wallets to flood victims seemingly just hours prior to losing one of their family members. According to Us Weekly, Tavia Hunt had announced a donation of hundreds of thousands of dollars to emergency services for flood relief just an hour before the post about her deceased cousin.

Noting the "devastation and loss of life" caused by the floods, Tavia said the family was donating "$500,000 to provide immediate resources for rescue, relief, and long-term recovery efforts."

Clark Hunt has been the chairman of the Chiefs since 2005 and the co-owner since 2006. The team has won three Super Bowls during his reign.

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Leftist calls Christian Camp Mystic ‘whites only,’ compares tragedy to deportations



The death toll continues to climb after tragic flash floods struck Central Texas, particularly in Kerrville, where the Guadalupe River surged and claimed over 100 lives.

Of those lives missing or taken, some of the most devastating have been the young campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' camp.

The aftermath is undeniably horrific for all involved. And while help is offered, heroism is plenty, and prayers are being sent around the globe, the left sees not just the lives lost and homes destroyed but an opportunity to spread blame.

Rosie O’Donnell wasted no time doing just that, pointing the finger at President Trump for the disaster.


“These are going to be the results we’re going to start to see on a daily basis because he’s put this country in so much danger by his horrible, horrible decisions and this ridiculously immoral bill that he’s just signed into law as Republicans cheered. People will die as a result, and they’ve started to already,” O’Donnell said in a TikTok video.

“The people most likely to complain in situations like this are the people least likely to help. The people most likely to pray in situations like this are also the people most likely to help,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey of “Relatable” says.

However, even worse than O’Donnell’s sentiment — which is heavily reflected by those on the left — are those who are blaming the Texans whose lives were lost to the flood.

Texas pediatrician Dr. Christina Propst said in a post on Facebook, “May all visitors, children, non-MAGA voters and pets be safe and dry. Kerr County MAGA voted to gut FEMA. They deny climate change. May they get what they voted for. Bless their hearts.”

“So as children are dying, as people are losing their lives, the first thing in this Democrat’s mind is, well, they get what they voted for, because they voted for Donald Trump. Again, cuts to FEMA had nothing to do with this,” Stuckey comments, disgusted.

Propst has now been fired, but she’s far from the only one who has let party politics destroy her sense of kindness and morality.

A former Houston appointee who served on the Houston Food Insecurity Board, Sadie Perkins, claimed on TikTok that Camp Mystic is “whites only.”

“You have carved out an all-white, whites-only enclave in East Texas for your white children. Yeah, I have a problem with that. I have a big problem with that. Once again, this is no shade to the girls. I hope they all get found. But once again, y’all have to understand the climate that we’re living in,” Perkins said.

“They want you to have sympathy for these people. They want you to get out of your bed and to come out of your home and go to find these people and to donate your money to go find these people. Meanwhile, they are deporting your family members. Meanwhile, they’re setting up concentration camps and prisons for your family members,” she continued.

“And I need y’all to keep that in mind before y’all get out there and put on your rain boots and go find these little girls,” she added.

Stuckey is disturbed, noting that while these women have said horrible things, there are men and women out there helping find the missing.

“This is showing the best of humanity in the rescue efforts that we have and the courage that we’ve seen — and the very worst of humanity who just cannot understand what it means for an image bearer of God to lose their life,” Stuckey says.

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Chip Roy honors heroes saving kids in deadly Texas flood and exposes media lies on 'The Glenn Beck Program'



Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) joined "The Glenn Beck Program" on Monday morning to provide an update on the devastating flash flood that killed at least 82 people, including 28 children, in Kerr County.

Roy highlighted the community's heroism and torched the legacy media for sharing baseless falsehoods about the government's response in the wake of the natural disaster.

'This is just the kind of hateful rhetoric that comes out of people that want to politicize everything, demean everything.'

The congressman noted that he typically spends each Fourth of July with his family in Kerrville to attend a concert, but he spent it in Washington, D.C., this year after President Donald Trump's team requested he stay for the signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

"I've spent most of the last three days [in Kerrville]," Roy told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck. "There's long waiting lines for people to volunteer."

He called the community's support "a great testimony to the strength, resolve, [and] compassion of not just people at Kerrville but across Texas and the whole country."

RELATED: Horror and heroism in Texas as search for flood survivors continues

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Roy blasted legacy media for "politicizing" the tragedy and spreading false information to criticize the Trump administration.

"The finger-pointing, generally, is just offensive," he told Beck. "We're down on the ground with first responders, trying to find people, and we're trying to clean up debris, and we're trying to help a community heal."

He shared stories of "tremendous acts of heroism," including Jane Ragsdale, a longtime camp director, and Dick Eastland, a Christian summer camp owner, who both died while trying to save children from the flash flood.

"You got a camp director, who died trying to save little girls, and I'm there with his daughter, who is now there with the families of the people who lost their little girls at this camp, and she was there because she loves them. Do you know how hard that was?" Roy stated. "And then you got these people like [CNN's] Dana [Bash], who were out there making this conjecture about budget cuts or the Trump administration didn't have people there, which, first of all, is false. It's just not true."

"My observation of all this is, the president, the federal government was doing what they normally do and more," he said.

Roy further slammed the media for "tracking down the family members" and publishing photographs of the children from families' social media posts.

RELATED: 'Incomprehensible tragedy': Dozens dead, 27 girls from Christian camp missing amid deadly Texas floods (UPDATE)

Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images

He also addressed comments from Sade Perkins, a former member of the Houston Food Insecurity Board, who claimed that Camp Mystic was a "white-only, conservative [and] Christian" program.

Roy called Perkins' claims "totally false" and "absolutely ridiculous," adding that the camp "welcomes anybody and everybody."

He told Beck, "This is just the kind of hateful rhetoric that comes out of people that want to politicize everything, demean everything. Everything has to be woke, everything has to be this [diversity, equity, and inclusion] ideology that's destroying our country."

"The fact is, these are really, really good people who are dedicated to the mission of advancing the Kingdom of Christ and doing so with these historic camps that have been multigenerational along a great and beautiful part of the rivers in Texas," Roy added.

Roy emphasized his commitment to working with local, state, and federal officials to prevent future "extraordinary" tragedies, stressing that installing warning sirens may be an urgent first step.

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'Incomprehensible tragedy': Dozens dead, 27 girls from Christian camp missing amid deadly Texas floods



Texas officials prepared early last week for heavy rainfall and possible flash flooding, ensuring that local first responders had what they needed to act quickly and decisively. They were, however, met with a downpour far worse than expected.

Officials in West Texas and the Hill Country momentarily were put on the back foot in the early hours of Independence Day by nearly a foot of rain, which triggered flash floods; Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said that reportedly caused the Guadalupe River to rise at least 26 feet in a matter of 45 minutes.

'So many people have been swept up into an extraordinary catastrophe.'

Among the settlements swept by the floods was Camp Mystic — a Christian camp for girls near the Guadalupe River in Hunt. Of around 750 campers, 27 were still reported missing as of Saturday afternoon. The mother of 9-year-old Janie Hunt told CNN that her daughter, who was among the missing, has been confirmed dead.

In addition to the more than 1,000 responders and 800 vehicles the state has deployed, an army of local, federal, and volunteer rescuers have been working around the clock to save victims from the waters, reunify families, clear debris, and tend to the injured.

The Kerr County Sheriff's Office indicated that as of Saturday morning, first responders had evacuated over 850 uninjured people, including eight injured people. They also recovered the bodies of 27 people who perished in the floods.

Among the dead were nine children, one of whom has not yet been identified.

Shortly after signing a disaster declaration on July 4 for 15 counties the flooding has impacted, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott told reporters, "This is a time when we as a state, we as a community, need God more than ever."

"Little kids off at camp joyfully excited about the upcoming day to celebrate the Fourth of July; campers alongside the [Guadalupe] River doing the same thing and enjoying one of the beautiful spots in the State of Texas — asleep, probably just a few hours from waking up," said Abbott. "So many people have been swept up into an extraordinary catastrophe."

While emphasizing the need for prayer, Abbott indicated that search-and-rescue operations were underway and would continue as flooding continues across the state.

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President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that his administration was working with state and local officials and added, "GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!"

Lt. Gov. Patrick said Friday, "I've talked to several people at the White House. The president sent the message, 'Whatever we need, we will have.'"

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday activated the U.S. Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency resources and was working to get the Camp Mystic girls to safety, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on social media.

Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images

There also has been an outpouring of support and prayers for the victims of the floods and their families.

"Our nation's heart breaks for the victims in Texas and their families. Just an incomprehensible tragedy," wrote Vice President JD Vance. "I hope everyone affected knows they're in the prayers of my family, and of millions of Americans. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace."

The NFL's Houston Texans are among the organizations that have shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide support and resources to those impacted by the floods.

This is a developing story.

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Newsom And Bass’s Only Hope For Avoiding Recalls Is A Global Warming Blame Game

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North Carolina counties demand full property tax payments — even for homes wiped out by Helene



Residents of several counties in North Carolina are still on the hook for the full payment of their property taxes, officials warn, even if their homes were destroyed by Hurricane Helene.

In late September, Helene battered the mountainous region of Western North Carolina and the surrounding states, causing massive floods that swept many structures away or left them in a pile of rubble. As a result, some residents remain in RVs or even tents, despite winter temperatures, as Blaze News previously reported.

Though the devastation in the area is unprecedented, state law requires property tax payments to be paid by midnight on January 6, no matter what. So county leaders say their hands are tied.

"Please be aware: North Carolina law does not allow property tax waivers or exceptions due to natural disasters," read an online statement from Buncombe County, one of those hardest hit by Helene. "Regardless of circumstances stemming from Hurricane Helene, property taxes are still due by Jan. 6. The Tax Office is here to help you figure out a plan, so please contact us as soon as possible."

'No one should be forced to pay property taxes on a home that no longer exists. This is common sense.'

Matt Van Swol, an Asheville resident who has carefully chronicled on X the underwhelming state and federal government response to Helene, was dumbfounded by the intransigence on the part of local and state leaders.

"No one should be forced to pay property taxes on a home that no longer exists. This is common sense," Van Swol wrote on Monday.

Government websites for Henderson, Jackson, Rutherford, and Transylvania Counties gave similar reminders about the January 6 deadline for property tax payments, even as many still offer links to those still needing assistance in connection with Hurricane Helene.

Additionally, most properties will still be taxed at their 2024, pre-storm value. For residents of Eastern North Carolina, which avoided the brunt of Hurricane Helene, some of those values went through the roof, resulting in a shocking 2024 tax bill.

Rumors recently spread throughout Johnson County about tax bills that jumped by as much as 75% from 2023. While the county acknowledged a 70.6% value increase countywide, it tried to quell growing concerns by noting that property taxes and property values do not increase at the same rate.

"It is important to note that a 70.6% increase in property value does not equate to a 70.6% increase in property taxes," said a county statement issued on January 6. "Tax rates for 2025 will be set by the County, districts, and municipalities in June, with tax bills expected to be mailed around August 1, 2025."

Concerns about property taxes have prompted action in neighboring Tennessee, another state hit hard by Helene. Though the tax deadline there isn't until February, lawmakers are hoping to call a special session this month to pass tax-related measures and bring some relief.

Republican state Rep. Tim Hicks supports a measure that would exempt hurricane victims from 2024 taxes. They also "won't get taxed again for those property taxes until their property is made whole again," he explained in December.

"I would think that all legislators across the state will be on board with that."

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‘Twisters’: Summer Blockbuster Succeeds Because It Leaves Sex and Politics Behind

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Maui's wildfire death toll officially 114, but locals running out of body bags reckon it's closer to 500, with thousands still missing



The County of Maui and the Maui Police Department confirmed Sunday that at least 114 people were dead as a result of the Hawaii wildfires that torched thousands of acres and reduced much of the historic town of Lahaina to ash.

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier indicated early last week that rescuers accompanied by scores of cadaver dogs were working their way through the aftermath, over 85% of which had been covered by Sunday, according to Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.

Locals, whose morgues have reportedly run out of body bags, indicated that the actual number of deaths is the neighborhood of 500.

Allisen Medina told the Daily Mail, "I know there are at least 480 dead here in Maui, and I don't understand why they're [the authorities] not saying that. Maybe it's to do with DNA or something."

Authorities are encouraging people to provide DNA samples to help identify victims, reported Axios.

The FBI announced Friday it would be opening a DNA matching site to speed up the process.

"I do know they ran out of body bags by the first or second night and had to ship some in from the mainland," added Medina.

Medina criticized the Biden administration's relief effort, saying, "100 percent not enough is being done, so people are doing it themselves. The government, relief organizations — they're not doing anything."

"We're only 100 miles from Oahu, which has several military bases. Why is the response so lacking? Why are they doing so little? Why is nothing else being done?" asked Medina, who has been traveling to and from Lahaina over the past two weeks, helping burned-out residents.

The 24-year-old also took aim at the apparent failure of some officials, particularly Herman Andaya, the administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency who resigned Thursday despite refusing to admit fault.

While she did not mention Andaya by name, Medina blasted his decision not to sound warning sirens.

A part-time morgue worker similarly suggested that around 480 people had already been confirmed dead, telling Southwest flight attendant Sarah Trost that authorities had only searched 13% of Lahaina as of last week, where he personally "found so many children, children and moms holding each other. Infants, toddlers, the unimaginable. Husbands and wives, whole entire [families] in a room just huddling together, burning to death."

The morgue worker further claimed, "It's all bones. ... They have no more room on the island in the morgue, so they're shipping in containers to hold those body bags."

Gov. Green told CBS News Sunday there were still an estimated 1,050 people unaccounted for, noting both that search and recovery efforts in the ruins of larger buildings could "take weeks" and that "the remains of those who died, in some cases, may be impossible to recover" on account of the high temperatures at which the fires burned.

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NBC News reported that an accurate count could take months or even years according to researchers and forensic anthropologists.

"The death toll number is always provisional, in a way," said Lynn Goldman, an epidemiologist and the dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. "I assume people won't stop trying to find remains and the work will take a very, very long time."

Goldman added, "It's going to be challenging to account for all the direct deaths, whether it was people who were burned or people who jumped into the ocean and drowned or people who died of smoke inhalation."

Although the official number is less than one-quarter of that counted by the morgue worker, Medina, and others, Pelletier underscored that it is already "unprecedented."

"No one has ever seen this that is alive today. Not this size, not this number, not this volume — and we're not done," said the Maui police chief.

While officials continue to tabulate how many souls perished in the blazes, some survivors are trying to establish precisely who or what set Maui up to burn.

Numerous lawsuits allege that Hawaiian Electric, which serves 95% of the state's 1.4 million residents, helped set the stage for the wildfires.

TheBlaze previously detailed a report claiming Hawaiian Electric had prioritized its shift to 100% renewable energy — as mandated by Democratic lawmakers — over the clearing of flammable vegetation and the maintenance of its power lines.

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At least 36 dead in Hawaii fires, which have displaced thousands, reduced a historic town to ash, and chased some into the ocean



Wildfires have transformed parts of Maui, Hawaii, into infernos, killing at least 36 and reducing much of one centuries-old coastal town to ash and cinders.

According to the National Weather Service, Hurricane Dora passed far south of the islands; however, the strong pressure gradient between the storm and high pressure to the north generated powerful wind gusts of up to 60 mph and dry weather conditions, which helped set the stage for the blazes that have since spread across several islands and all but encircled Maui.

The Haiwaii Tourism Authority indicated Wednesday evening that fires were still affecting Lahaina, Kihei, and Upcountry Maui — all on Maui — as well as Hawaii Island, particularly the Mauna Kea Resort area.

The islands of Kauai, Lanai, and Oahu remain unaffected.

Maui County reported that 36 total fatalities had been discovered as of late Wednesday. Officials have indicated the death toll could rise.

Lahaina, among the municipalities hit hardest, was left in ruins by the fires.

In the town's historic district, homes and businesses were razed to the ground. In other areas, the blanched skeletons of buildings appear to be all that remain standing.

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Air Maui helicopter pilot Richie Olsten described the scene at Lahaina thusly: "It looked like a war zone, like an area that had just been bombed. … And, it's just, I can't even put it in words, what, what we saw. So many people, hundreds of homes burned to the ground. People displaced, the whole Front Street of Lahaina. … The businesses, the historic area, burned to the ground. Gone.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) noted on Twitter, "Lahaina Town on Maui is almost totally burnt to the ground. Firefighters are still trying to get the fires under control, and our first responders are in search and rescue mode."

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One plane passenger caught some of the destruction on tape.

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Additional footage of Lahaina's coastline shows the immolated remains of vehicles and ash-strewn streets.

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Dozens of people rescued by the Coast Guard had leaped into the ocean to avoid the flames, reported the Weather Channel.

Capt. Aja L. Kirksey, Sector Commander of Coast Guard Sector Honolulu said in a statement, "On behalf of the US Coast Guard, I wish to convey my sincere condolences to the communities who have been tragically affected by the fires in Maui," reported Maui Now.

"Our collaboration with partner agencies and neighboring jurisdictions remains steadfast, as we unite our resources, knowledge, and equipment to ensure responder and public safety and amplify the impact of our response efforts," added Kirksey.

Gov. Josh Green's office indicated that over 2,000 acres of state and private land had been torched.

As of late Wednesday, around 100 Maui firefighters had been battling the flames around the clock, including 11 from state airport firefighting and rescue personnel, according to authorities.

Hawaii Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke emphasized, "This is not a safe place to be. ... On certain parts of Maui we have shelters that are overrun. We have resources that are being taxed. We are doing whatever we can and the state is providing whatever support that we can to give support to both Maui and to the Big Island."

Various shelters for the citizens displaced by the blazes are operating at capacity. The Kahului Airport on Maui is reportedly sheltering people, including an estimated 2,000 stranded visitors.

The Associated Press reported that 11,000 visitors managed to fly out of Maui on Wednesday.

As of Thursday morning, Maui County had opened additional emergency evacuation shelters at King's Cathedral Maui and at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, both in Kahului.

The HTA further noted that thousands of residents and visitors have been evacuated and multiple roads have been closed.

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said in a video statement, "We are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time. ... In the days ahead, we will be stronger as a ‘kaiaulu,’ or community, as we rebuild with resilience and aloha."

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