Dozens of 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.

The death toll from devastating 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.

Texas parents are frantically posting photos of their daughters and pleas for information as at least 23 campers from an all-girls summer camp remain missing after floods tore through the state’s south-central region.