People gather outside St. Sebastian’s Catholic Church in Kentfield, Calif., on July 8, 2025, to pray for members of a Kentfield family missing in the Texas flood zone. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

Portraits of the victims and why the flood was so much worse than anyone expected — these are the top stories about the July 4 flood.

At least 87 people are dead after heavy rain led to devastating flooding in Texas. Kerr County was hit the hardest, with at least 75 deaths, including 27 children. President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration for the county and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the ground there.

Camp officials at the Mo-Ranch Assembly summer camp acted quickly without warnings to evacuate 70 people from rising Guadalupe River waters.

Teens at the Pot O’ Gold Christian Camp near Comfort, Texas, were swamped by a wall of water as they tried to escape.

I was a college student who didn’t want to return to an unstable home. So instead, I found a job as a lifeguard at a Christian summer camp in the Texas Hill Country.

Bubble Inn saw generations of 8-year-olds enter as strangers and emerge as confident young ladies equipped with new skills from the great outdoors and lifelong friends – bonds that would one day prove vital in the face of unfathomable tragedy.

Texas has identified more than $50 billion in flood control needs, but lawmakers have devoted just $1.4 billion to address them