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S u n d ay, J u ly 6, 2025
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Flash flooding kills at least 37 in Texas
STAFF PHOTOS By DAVID GRUNFELD
Downtown Bay St. Louis bustles with residents, visitors and vehicles on Saturday. Coastal cities like Bay St. Louis, Ocean Springs, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are fueled by tourists who come for the beaches, restaurants and nightlife.
GROWTH ON
THE COAST
Tourism along the Gulf gets a boost after pandemic with new vacation condos, airports BY POET WOLFE and STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writers
Jeff and Kristina Russell and their three kids skipped their annual trip to the South Carolina shore this summer and packed their bags for Pass Christian, Mississippi, instead. Over several days in late June, the Illinois family soaked up the waterfront, boated to barrier islands and wandered through the oak-shaded streets of nearby Ocean Springs. It wasn’t their typical vacation destination, but that was the point. “We wanted to see something different,” said Jeff Russell, pausing during a stroll down Government Street in Ocean Springs on a recent Friday afternoon. “It’s laid back. It’s not overrun like Myrtle Beach.” The Russells are among a growing number of visitors flocking to the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast from afar. Long a popular drive-in destination for regional travelers, in recent years, the area has become increasingly popular among tourists from other parts of the country as well. Driven in part by pandemic-era demand for beach vacations and supported by an increase in new hotel rooms and condos and more direct air service — Gulf Shores has its own international airport now — accessing the coast has gotten easier. And beachgoers can find lodging at price
WEATHER HIGH 92 LOW 76 PAGE 6B
Search continues for missing as storm continues to pound the state BY JIM VERTUNO, JULIO CORTEZ and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press
KERRVILLE, Texas — Rescuers scoured flooded riverbanks littered with mangled trees Saturday and turned over rocks in the search for more than two dozen children from a girls’ camp and many others missing after a wall of water blasted down a river in the Texas Hill Country. The storm killed at least 37 people across the state, including 14 children. Some 36 hours after the floods, authorities still have not said how many people were missing beyond 27 children from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered. The destructive fast-moving water rose 26 feet on the Guadalupe River in just 45 minutes before daybreak Friday, washing away homes and vehicles. The danger was not over as torrential rains continued pounding communities outside San Antonio on Saturday and flash flood warnings and watches remained in effect. Searchers used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads.
ä See FLOODING, page 5A
‘Little Cajun Saint’ a step closer to official sainthood Vatican approves investigation into life of Charlene Richard
Staff report
Beach — alone. “Our drive-in market, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, is still our bread and butter,” said Brandy Davis, marketing director with Beachball Properties, which manages 350 rental units along the Alabama coast. “But we are getting a new crop of people from as far away as Virginia, Missouri and Ohio.”
The Vatican has officially accepted and approved the investigation into the life of Charlene Richard, “the Little Cajun Saint,” according to the Charlene Richard Foundation. Charlene, a Richard native, died from acute lymphatic leukemia when she was 12 years old. She is known for offering her suffering up for others. While the latest step brings Charlene one step closer to officially being declared a saint in the Catholic Church, the Rev. Korey LaVergne, of St. Edward Roman Catholic Church, where Charlene is buried, told KLFY it’s a step that cements her story in church history.
ä See COAST, page 4A
ä See RICHARD, page 4A
People order at Pop Brothers in Ocean Springs, Miss., on Wednesday. points that range from budget motels to luxury whole-house rentals. As coastal communities from Bay St. Louis to Perdido Key geared up for the peak of the season this holiday weekend, tourism officials and local business owners said summer 2025 is shaping up to be a strong year, after a record 2024 that saw nearly 6.5 million visitors in Baldwin County, Alabama — Fort Morgan, Gulf Shores and Orange
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................3B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................3B Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
101ST yEAR, NO. 6