Key points
- US official says Trump will okay state request for aid
- Flood waters recede along the Guadalupe River
- Had no warning of severity of flood: officials
ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of rescuers have been deployed to search for survivors in central Texas, after flash floods killed 50 people, including 15 children.
“The work continues, and will continue, until everyone is found,” promised Larry Leitha, the sheriff of Kerr County.
As the search goes into a second night, county officials said 27 children remained missing from a Christian youth camp located along the river, according to the BBC.
“We have recovered 43 deceased individuals in Kerr County. Among these who are deceased we have 28 adults and 15 children,” said Larry Leitha.
Leitha earlier put the number of evacuated people at 850, including eight reported injured.
State disaster declaration
Addressing a press conference, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he was expanding a state disaster declaration and was requesting additional federal resources from US President Donald Trump.
Texas Department of Emergency Management chief Nim Kidd said air, ground and water-based crews were scouring the length of the Guadalupe River for survivors and the bodies of the dead.
“We will continue the search until all those who are missing are found,” he said.
Guadalupe River rose by 26 feet
The flooding began Friday — the start of the fourth of July holiday weekend — as months’ worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, causing the Guadalupe River to rise by 26 feet (eight meters) in 45 minutes.
The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that more rain was forecast, and that “excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.”
In Kerrville on Saturday, the usually calm Guadalupe was flowing fast, its murky waters filled with debris.
“The water reached the top of the trees. About 10 meters or so,” said local resident Gerardo Martinez, 61. “Cars, whole houses were going down the river.”
Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual.
But scientists say that in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events like floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense.
Devastation at Camp Mystic
On Saturday, Sheriff Leitha said 27 children from the Camp Mystic in the flooded Kerr County were still missing. Around 750 girls were attending the camp.
US media reported that four of the missing girls were dead, citing their families.
The camp, located along the banks of the Guadalupe, was in disarray, with blankets, teddy bears and other belongings caked in mud.
The windows of camp cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.
Michael, who only gave AFP his first name, was searching the camp for his eight-year-old daughter.
“I was in Austin and drove down yesterday morning, once we heard about it,” he said, adding that he was hoping for a “miracle.”
The obituary section of the Kerrville community news site was dotted with tributes to local victims, including Camp Mystic’s owner and director Dick Eastland.
Director of Heart O’ The Hills summer camp located about a mile from Camp Mystic, Jane Ragsdale, was also confirmed dead.
Multiple flash flood warnings remained in place over the weekend across central Texas, where heavy rain led to around eight deaths in three other counties according to US media — bringing the state-wide death toll to at least 50.
“Catastrophic”
Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem told a press conference that Trump wanted to “upgrade the technologies” at the weather service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
“We need to renew this ancient system,” Noem said.
Scientists and disaster management agencies have criticized Trump for cutting funding and staffing at the NOAA, in charge of weather forecasts and preparedness, and the NWS.
When asked about claims that residents were given insufficient warning of the floods, Noem said she would “carry your concerns back to the federal government.”
Officials and locals alike were shocked by the speed and intensity of the flooding.
“We didn’t know this flood was coming,” Kerr County official Rob Kelly said Friday.
“The predictions were definitely off,” and the rain was “double of what was anticipated,” Kerrville city official Dalton Rice said.
Rice added that rescuers were facing “very difficult” conditions, and declined to give an overall figure for how many were missing.
Soila Reyna, 55, a Kerrville resident who works at a local church helping people who lost their belongings, witnessed the devastation unfold.
“It has been years since we had a flood, but nothing like this,” Reyna said.
“Nothing like as catastrophic as this, where it involved children, people and just the loss of people’s houses… It’s just crazy,” she added.
