The number of confirmed deaths from the devastating floods in Texas has climbed to at least 78, including 21 children, as the effort to locate girls missing from a summer camp stretched into its third day, reports RTE.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha, whose jurisdiction lies in the heart of Texas Hill Country where the flooding was most severe, reported that the county accounted for 59 of those fatalities, including the 21 children.
He confirmed that 11 girls and a camp counselor were still missing from a summer program near the Guadalupe River, which overflowed following intense rainfall that hit central Texas on Friday, coinciding with the Independence Day holiday, reports RTE.
In Travis County, a local official stated that four lives had been lost due to the flooding, and 13 individuals were still unaccounted for. Additionally, one fatality was confirmed in Kendall County.
Authorities in Burnet County reported two deaths as well, reports RTE.
In San Angelo, located in Tom Green County, a woman was discovered deceased in her submerged vehicle, according to the city’s police chief.
Sheriff Leitha mentioned that 18 adults and four children in Kerr County were still awaiting identification, reports RTE.
He did not clarify whether those 22 people were included in the 59 fatalities confirmed in the county.
Rescue crews managed to save more than 850 individuals, some of whom were found clinging to trees, after a sudden deluge dropped up to 38 centimeters of rain across the area, about 140 kilometers northwest of San Antonio, reports RTE.
It remains uncertain exactly how many people are still missing from the region.
“Everyone in the community is hurting,” Mr Leitha told reporters, reports RTE.
Some experts have raised concerns that recent reductions to the federal workforce by the Trump administration, including personnel cuts at the National Weather Service, may have played a role in the failure to properly forecast the magnitude of the flooding and issue timely alerts.
Under President Donald Trump, thousands of jobs have been eliminated from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency that oversees the weather service, leaving many of its offices short-staffed, according to former NOAA director Rick Spinrad, reports RTE.
Spinrad said he couldn’t confirm whether the staffing shortages were directly responsible for the lack of early warnings, but noted that such reductions inevitably impair the agency’s forecasting capabilities.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who is responsible for NOAA, acknowledged that a “moderate” flood watch issued by the weather service on Thursday did not reflect the true severity of the impending storm and said the Trump administration was making efforts to modernize the system, reports RTE.
“We need to renew this ancient system,” Ms Noem told a press conference, reports RTE.
When asked about criticism regarding insufficient warnings to residents, Ms Noem said she would “carry your concerns back to the federal government”.
The flood’s suddenness and intensity shocked both residents and authorities, reports RTE.
“We didn’t know this flood was coming,” Kerr County official Mr Kelly said yesterday, reports RTE.
Soila Reyna, a 55-year-old Kerrville resident employed by a local church, recounted witnessing the destruction first-hand.
“Nothing like as catastrophic as this, where it involved children, people and just the loss of people’s houses,” Ms Reyna said, reports RTE.
A request for comment from the White House went unanswered.
Democratic congressman Joaquin Castro from Texas warned that understaffing the weather service could pose serious risks.
“When you have flash flooding, there’s a risk that if you don’t have the personnel… to do that analysis, do the predictions in the best way, it could lead to tragedy,” Mr Castro said, reports RTE.
As night fell, local volunteers teamed up with disaster response personnel in the ongoing search for the missing, including the girls from a riverside Christian summer camp.
The 11 girls and their counselor were part of Camp Mystic, a Christian camp for girls that has operated for nearly 100 years and was hosting 700 campers when the flood struck, reports RTE.
The camp site, a day after the flooding, showed signs of extensive damage.
In one of the cabins, mud lines on the walls showed water levels had reached as high as 1.83 meters.
Beds, mattresses, and personal items covered in mud were scattered across the room. Some buildings had shattered windows, and one structure had an entire wall missing, reports RTE.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the flooding had inflicted unimaginable damage on Camp Mystic, where about 750 girls had been staying along the Guadalupe River when the water surged.
“The height the rushing water reached to the top of the cabins was shocking,” he said in a post on social platform X, after visiting the camp. “We won’t stop until we find every girl who was in those cabins,” reports RTE.
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