Texas flood death toll rises to 131 as new storms loom
A National Weather Service flood watch forecasting heavy downpours of up to 152mm of rain was posted until Tuesday morning for a wide swath of central Texas extending from the Rio Grande east to San Antonio and Austin.
The advisory included Kerr County and other parts of Texas Hill Country along the Guadalupe still recovering from the July 4 flood disaster, which ravaged the county seat of Kerrville and a riverside Christian summer camp for girls in the nearby town of Hunt.
Riverfront residents as well as search teams still combing the banks of the waterway were advised to seek higher ground until the latest danger had passed.
The search for additional victims along the Guadalupe was likewise suspended due to flood concerns on Sunday.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said storms had claimed at least 131 lives in Texas since July 4, the bulk of those deaths in and around Kerrville, up from 120 reported on Friday.
He said 97 people were still listed as missing in the greater Kerrville area, down from the 160-plus who authorities said were unaccounted for last week.
About a third of the Kerr County fatalities are children, most of whom perished at Camp Mystic when floodwaters raged through the girls-only summer retreat before dawn on July 4.
Authorities have not rescued anyone alive since the day of the floods, when more than 300mm of rain fell in less than an hour in the heart of a region known as "flash flood alley," sending a deadly wall of water down the Guadalupe River basin.
Abbott said state politicians would investigate the circumstances of the flooding, disaster preparedness and emergency response to the flooding at a special legislative session set to convene later this month.
The high casualty toll, ranking as one of the deadliest US flood events in decades, has raised questions about the lack of flash-flood warning sirens in Kerr County and vacancies left at National Weather Service offices amid staffing cuts under the Trump administration.
with AP
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Perth Now
18 hours ago
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Texas flood death toll rises to 131 as new storms loom
The official toll of flood-related deaths across Texas has risen to 131 as authorities warned of another round of heavy rains 10 days after a flash flood that transformed the Guadalupe River into a killer torrent. A National Weather Service flood watch forecasting heavy downpours of up to 152mm of rain was posted until Tuesday morning for a wide swath of central Texas extending from the Rio Grande east to San Antonio and Austin. The advisory included Kerr County and other parts of Texas Hill Country along the Guadalupe still recovering from the July 4 flood disaster, which ravaged the county seat of Kerrville and a riverside Christian summer camp for girls in the nearby town of Hunt. Riverfront residents as well as search teams still combing the banks of the waterway were advised to seek higher ground until the latest danger had passed. The search for additional victims along the Guadalupe was likewise suspended due to flood concerns on Sunday. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said storms had claimed at least 131 lives in Texas since July 4, the bulk of those deaths in and around Kerrville, up from 120 reported on Friday. He said 97 people were still listed as missing in the greater Kerrville area, down from the 160-plus who authorities said were unaccounted for last week. About a third of the Kerr County fatalities are children, most of whom perished at Camp Mystic when floodwaters raged through the girls-only summer retreat before dawn on July 4. Authorities have not rescued anyone alive since the day of the floods, when more than 300mm of rain fell in less than an hour in the heart of a region known as "flash flood alley," sending a deadly wall of water down the Guadalupe River basin. Abbott said state politicians would investigate the circumstances of the flooding, disaster preparedness and emergency response to the flooding at a special legislative session set to convene later this month. The high casualty toll, ranking as one of the deadliest US flood events in decades, has raised questions about the lack of flash-flood warning sirens in Kerr County and vacancies left at National Weather Service offices amid staffing cuts under the Trump administration. with AP
Perth Now
2 days ago
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Search for Texas flood victims paused amid heavy rain
More heavy rain in Texas temporarily paused a weeklong search for victims of catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River and led to high-water rescues elsewhere as officials warned that the downpours could again cause waterways to surge. It was the first time a new round of severe weather had paused the search since the July Fourth floods, which killed at least 129 people. Authorities believe more than 160 people may still be missing in Kerr County alone, and 10 more in neighbouring areas. In Kerrville, where officials have come under scrutiny over the failure to adequately warn residents about the rising water in the early morning hours of July 4, authorities went door-to-door to some homes after midnight early on Sunday to alert people that flooding was again possible. Authorities also pushed phone alerts to those in the area. During the pause in searches, Ingram Fire Department officials ordered crews to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County, warning the potential for a flash flood is high. Late on Sunday afternoon, the Kerr County Sheriff's Office announced that search teams in the western part of that county could resume their efforts. The Ingram Fire Department would resume their search and rescue efforts Monday morning, agency spokesman Brian Lochte said. Governor Greg Abbott said on X the state was making rescues in San Saba, Lampasas and Schleicher counties and that evacuations were taking place in a handful of others. Texas Task Force 1, a joint state and federal urban search and rescue team, had rescued dozens of people in the Lampasas area, Abbott said. The latest round of flooding damaged about 100 homes and knocked down untold lengths of cattle fencing, said Ashley Johnson, CEO of the Hill Country Community Action Association, a San Saba-based nonprofit. "Anything you can imagine in a rural community was damaged," she said. "Our blessing is it was daylight and we knew it was coming." With more rain on the way, county officials ordered everyone living in flood-prone areas near the San Saba River to evacuate. Forecasters warned that the Guadalupe River could rise to nearly five metres by Sunday afternoon, enough to put the Highway 39 bridge under water in Hunt, the small town where Camp Mystic is located along the river. "Numerous secondary roads and bridges are flooded and very dangerous," a weather service warning said. The July 4 flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system.
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'I'll tell you some other time,' Trump said on Tuesday, when asked by a reporter about FEMA. Before the most recent flooding, Kerr County declined to install an early-warning system after failing to secure state money to cover the cost. Lawrence Walker, 67, and a nearly three-decade veteran resident of Kerrville, said the county and state had not spent enough on disaster prevention, including an early-warning system. Asked about the quality of the government response, he said, 'It's been fine since the water was at 8 feet.' The Texas state legislature will convene in a special session later this month to investigate the flooding and provide disaster relief funding. Abbott has dismissed questions about whether anyone was to blame, calling that the 'word choice of losers.' Dozens still unaccounted for Search teams on Friday were still combing through muddy debris littering parts of the Hill Country in central Texas, looking for the dozens still listed as missing, but no survivors have been found since the day of the floods. Heavy rains sent a wall of water raging down the Guadalupe River early on July 4, causing the deadliest disaster of the Republican president's nearly six-month term in office. As sun poked through dark clouds on Friday morning, search crews in hard hats painstakingly walked inch-by-inch along the ruined banks of the river, marking damage and looking through wreckage. After the president arrived in Kerr County in the early afternoon, Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott drove to an area near the river, where Trump received a briefing from first responders amid debris left in the wake of the flood. The county is located in what is known as 'flash flood alley,' a region that has seen some of the country's deadliest floods. More than a foot of rain fell in less than an hour on July 4. Flood gauges showed the river's height rose from about a foot to 34 feet (10.4 meters) in a matter of hours, cascading over its banks and sweeping away trees and structures in its path. Kerr County officials say more than 160 people remain unaccounted for, although experts say that the number of people reported missing in the wake of disasters is often inflated. The dead include at least 36 children, many of whom were campers at the nearly century-old Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer retreat on the banks of the river. Jon Moreno, 71, a longtime Kerrville resident whose property on high ground was spared, praised the government response - local and federal. He has heard the debate about what more could have been done - including sirens - but said he did not think it would have made much difference, given people's desire to build along the flood-prone riverbanks. Loading 'It's unavoidable,' he said. 'All those people along the river - I wouldn't want to live there ... It's too dangerous.' At Stripes, a gas station in Kerrville, the building was tagged in large white letters, accusing 'Trump's Big Beautiful Bill' of cutting 'our emergency funding.' The president's massive legislative package, which cut taxes and spending, won approval from the Republican-controlled Congress last week and was signed into law by Trump on the same day that the flooding hit Texas.
