How the catastrophic Texas flooding unfolded, in maps and charts

By CNN Newsource

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Published December 5, 2025 8:06 AM

By Renée Rigdon, Matt Stiles, Byron Manley, Lou Robinson, Amy O’Kruk, Rosa de Acosta, Soph Warnes, Gillian Roberts, Yukari Schrickel, Annette Choi and Amy O’Kruk, CNN

(CNN) — Catastrophic and deadly flooding killed 136 people following a torrential downpour along Texas’ Guadalupe River on the evening of July 3, and into the early hours of Fourth of July morning.

The death toll included at least 27 from the all-girls Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp nestled on the South Fork of the Guadalupe River, where flood risk was among the highest in the state, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A large stretch of the river between Hunt and Comfort, Texas, saw widespread flooding, according to a CNN analysis of hourly flood data from Floodbase.

CNN tracked the devastation in maps and charts. Here’s what we know about how the disaster unfolded:

Thursday, July 3

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch early Thursday afternoon at 1:18 p.m. CT, that highlighted Kerrville, among other locations, as being at risk of flash flooding through the night into Friday. That watch forecasted 5 to 7 inches of rainfall for the event.

Friday, July 4

A flash flood warning, upgraded from the earlier watch, was issued for parts of Kerr County at 1:14 a.m. CT on Friday.

Then, a flash flood emergency warning was issued for Kerr County at 4:03 a.m. CT, followed by one specifically for Kerrville at 5:34 a.m. CT.

Ultimately, the most deluged parts of Texas saw as much as 15 inches of rain, more than double what was forecasted the day before.

One gauge along the Guadalupe River, in Kerrville, showed the water levels hit 23.4 feet at 4:45 a.m. Friday morning, about 45 minutes before the warning specific to the town was issued. Water levels in that spot almost certainly crested above 23.4 feet, but the gauge didn’t record data for 3 hours, between 4:45 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. CT, before picking back up its data measurement.

Midday Friday, July 4

At Camp Mystic, which is located more than 20 miles west of Kerrville in surrounding Kerr County, Texas, about 107 game wardens and an aviation group attempted to access the camp Friday morning, finally entering and starting to rescue children shortly after midday.

Devastation

The floods ravaged miles and miles of Kerr County, including the towns of Kerrville, Ingram and Hunt, in addition to some of the summer camp locations along the river. As the storm receded on July 4, stories surfaced of families and homes lost in houses, RVs, AirBNBs and more.

FEMA maintains a database of flood zones throughout the country. It maps the regulatory floodways — the places that will flood first and are most dangerous — and the areas that will flood in extreme events.

At least two of the summer camps along the Guadalupe River were in known floodways.

The families of more than a dozen victims filed lawsuits against Camp Mystic and its owners in November, accusing them of gross negligence and arguing there was no meaningful evacuation plan in place.

—CNN’s Angela Fritz contributed to this report.