
The death toll from weekend flooding in central Texas has risen to 82 people, with officials warning that life-threatening flood risks remain high as search crews continue looking for missing individuals.
Among the casualties were children at summer camps, with officials stating the death toll is expected to increase further. Forty-one people remain unaccounted for across the state, according to Governor Greg Abbott, though more may be missing.
In Kerr County, residents began clearing mud and salvaging belongings from damaged properties while recounting their escapes from rapidly rising floodwaters that struck late Friday. Reagan Brown described how his parents, both in their 80s, escaped uphill as water flooded their Hunt home, then returned to rescue their trapped 92-year-old neighbor from her attic before taking shelter in a toolshed with other neighbors.
Search efforts continue in challenging terrain populated with snakes, including the hunt for 10 girls and a counselor from Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp that suffered extensive damage. In the Hill Country area, where several summer camps operate, searchers have recovered 68 bodies, including 28 children, according to Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha.
Ten additional deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green, and Williamson counties, local officials confirmed.
Governor Abbott warned that additional heavy rainfall expected through Tuesday could produce more dangerous flooding, particularly in already saturated areas.
Families were permitted to visit the camp beginning Sunday morning. Observers noted one girl carrying a large bell from a building, while a man whose daughter was rescued from a cabin on the camp’s highest point searched along the riverbank, examining tree clumps and large rocks. One family departed with a blue footlocker, and a teenage girl was seen crying as they drove away, gazing at the destruction through an open window.
Heavy equipment operators worked to remove tree trunks and tangled branches from the river. With each hour, prospects for finding additional survivors diminished.
Despite being asked not to, volunteers and some families of missing individuals came to the disaster zone to conduct their own searches.
Authorities are facing increasing questions about whether adequate warnings were issued in an area with known flooding vulnerability and whether sufficient preparations were made.
President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County on Sunday and indicated he would likely visit Friday, stating, “I would have done it today, but we’d just be in their way. It’s a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible.”
Governor Abbott pledged that authorities would work continuously and announced that new areas were being searched as floodwaters receded. He declared Sunday a day of prayer for the state.
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