A t least 48 people are dead in central Texas in what officials called a "mass casualty event" after devastating flash floods slammed Hill Country, with water rescues taking place along the Guadalupe River.

By JIM VERTUNO, JULIO CORTEZ and JOHN SEEWER KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Rescuers scoured a devastated central Texas landscape of mangled trees, overturned cars and muck-filled debris Saturday

The death toll from sudden floods in the Texas Hill Country rose to 24 Friday night, officials said, as the search for more than 20 people missing from a girls summer camp continued through the night.