Search teams scour for more than 170 still missing in Texas flooding: Live updates
The July 4 flash flooding has claimed the lives of at least 119 people, a toll that has steadily risen as search and rescue teams and volunteers comb through debris. At least 27 of those deaths were children and counselors at Camp Mystic, a beloved girls' Christian camp that sits along the river. Along with homes and campgrounds in the area, the camp was inundated early Friday morning with little time to act.
On Wednesday the death toll in hard-hit Kerr County increased to 95, including 36 children. That's up from 87 the day before, Sheriff Larry Leitha said. At least 161 people are missing in Kerr County alone, Gov. Greg Abbott told reporters Tuesday. Among them are five campers and one counselor from Camp Mystic, officials said.
The last "live rescue" was made Friday, said Jonathan Lamb with the Kerrville Police Department, and the chances of finding survivors dwindle as time passes.
"The hearts of our fellow Texans are breaking every single day because of what people in this community and the surrounding area are going through,'' Abbott said.
On Wednesday, the impacts of catastrophic flooding in Ruidoso, New Mexico, were becoming clear as authorities said at least three people were killed, including two young children, after torrential rains overwhelmed the Ruidoso River on Tuesday.
More: Flooding in New Mexico kills at least 3 people, including 2 children
How to help tragedy victims without getting scammed
High-profile tragedies like the one now afflicting parts of central Texas often pull at the hearts of Americans, who may respond by donating to relief and recovery efforts.
But those calamities also present an opportunity for scammers to try to take advantage of the public's good intentions for their own benefit.
What are the best ways to help fellow Americans at times of trouble, and how to separate the legitimate relief organizations from the fraudsters? Read here to find out.
The current FEMA 'needs to be eliminated,' Noem says
Even as FEMA rushes to support the response to the flooding catastrophe in central Texas, the head of the federal department in charge of the disaster-relief agency says it should be eliminated in its current form.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reiterated Wednesday the Trump administration's position that FEMA should be phased out and the tasks it performs be left up to the states.
"Federal emergency management should be state and locally led, rather than how it has operated for decades," Noem said at a meeting of a government-review council. "It has been slow to respond at the federal level. It's even been slower to get the resources to Americans in crisis, and that is why this entire agency needs to be eliminated as it exists today, and remade into a responsive agency."
FEMA has sent search and rescue teams to hard-hit Kerr County, along with numerous experts and supplies to bolster the state's emergency headquarters in Austin. The agency also authorized activation of the Army Corps of Engineers, according to the FEMA daily operations briefing.
Intensive effort to find Burnet County fire chief
Officials in Burnet County, where five people died in the flooding, are focusing their resources on locating the only resident still unaccounted for, longtime Volunteer Fire Chief Michael Phillips.
Private helicopters, the Texas National Guard and Coast Guard, drones, boats, cadaver-detecting dogs and personnel on the ground are involved in the search, the sheriff's office told USA TODAY in an email Wednesday.
The effort is being conducted around Cow Creek, where Phillips was last seen Saturday as he was responding to a rescue call before he and his vehicle were swept into the raging waters. The vehicle has been located but Phillips was not inside.
Phillips served the Marble Falls area in the fire department for more than 30 years, holding several positions before becoming chief, the sheriff's office said, adding that he instructed and mentored numerous young firefighters during his tenure.
Tale of tragedy, but also heroism, mayor says
In the early morning hours of July 4, a Kerrville patrol sergeant who lives in nearby Hunt along the Guadalupe River found himself stranded in an "island" when the river flooded out low-water crossings. He discovered dozens of other people trapped in vehicles or on rooftops as the catastrophic flooding unfolded, according to Lamb of the Kerrville Police Department.
The unidentified sergeant woke up a Kerrville detective who lived nearby and the two spent the next 13 hours conducting rescues and communicating with first responders to evacuate people, Lamb said. They waded into water to rescue people, cleared debris for evacuations and rendered first aid along with some Hunt volunteer firefighters and an emergency room doctor they found along the way.
"They were by themselves on that island that was Hunt, Texas, doing what they do, serving, protecting and helping," Lamb said.
In Kerrville, as flooding quickly became catastrophic, officers went door-to-door waking people up and convincing them to evacuate within the first hour, he said.
"Folks, I don't know how many lives our KPD team saved in an hour in Kerrville, but I know that this tragedy, as horrific as it is, could've been so much worse," Lamb said.
Victims' bodies may be in debris piles, Kerrville warns
The Kerrville Police Department asked people on Wednesday not to disturb debris piles before first calling for a search team to look through it, in case there's a victim in there.
"Do not use heavy equipment to tear down debris piles," said the police department, which provided a phone number for residents to call and ask a search team to check a pile before doing their own cleanup.
How staff at all-boys camp rescued campers
After a sun-filled day at Camp La Junta, 11-year-old Beau Brown was roused awake by a counselor on July 4 and led outside into the early-morning darkness. From the doorway, Beau could see floodwaters beginning to engulf cabins closer to the Guadalupe River, where the younger boys slept. With a group of other campers, he reached a high point on a nearby hillside and watched as counselors rushed into the raging floodwaters.
The torrent of water blew out the walls of at least one cabin and forced counselors to move children into the rafters above their bunk beds. When the water slowed, counselors formed a line and pulled some of the boys to safety. Several counselors slung children over their shoulders and swam them to higher ground.
Within a few hours, each of the nearly 400 children and counselors at the all-boys camp was safe and accounted for. Acting on their own, staff had taken decisive action, rushing the children into cabins up the hill from the racing river. Parents who spoke with USA TODAY credit them for saving their children's lives.
"If it hadn't of been for them, it would have been a very different scenario with our boys," said Beau's mother, Georgie Brown. "They didn't have anyone telling them what to do, they just did it and saved a lot of our boys." Read more here.
− Christopher Cann
Officials deflect swirling questions of blame in Texas flooding
Texas officials have been dodging questions about whether more should have been done to warn residents of the affected areas about the catastrophic flooding about to surround them.
At a morning news briefing Wednesday, Sheriff Leitha was pressed about how long it took for officials to respond to "Code Red" alerts about the flash flooding, and he again said his focus was on locating those who are missing.
"We will answer those questions," he said. "We're not running, we're not going to hide from everything. That's going to be checked into at a later time. I wish I could tell you that time."
At a Tuesday news conference, Abbott said an investigation into the events surrounding the tragedy may begin in an upcoming special session of the legislature, and he took umbrage at a question about who's to blame for the heavy toll of the calamity in an area known for flash floods.
"That's the word choice of losers," Abbott said before launching into an analogy about the state's most beloved sport, football, and how different teams respond to hardships. "The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who's to blame,'' he said. "The championship teams are the ones that say, 'Don't worry about it, man, we've got this. We're going to make sure that we go score again and we're going to win this game.'"
Stormy weather, heat could impact search. Drier days ahead
Drier weather is on the horizon for parts of central Texas, but scattered storms and showers along with hot weather could impact search efforts on Wednesday, forecasters said.
High temperatures in the upper 80s to 90s are anticipated across the region, the National Weather Service office covering Austin and San Antonio said. Temperatures will feel even hotter in the coming days, more like they're in the low 100s, AccuWeather said. Near Kerrville, scattered thunderstorms could make an appearance Wednesday afternoon.
Though these storms will carry less moisture than those on July 4, already saturated ground is prone to flash flooding, AccuWeather warned. Storm and shower activity should recede after Wednesday night and through the end of the week, though isolated activity could still spell danger, forecasters said.
Odessa police officer killed in flood
A police officer from Odessa, Texas, died in the July 4 flooding near Kerrville, officials said.
"We are deeply saddened to share with our community that Odessa Police Officer Bailey Martin has been found and, tragically, is deceased," the police department said, adding that his body was identified on July 7.
Martin was reported missing over the weekend after he took a trip with family members to the Guadalupe River near Kerrville, over 275 miles away from Odessa, for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, the police department said. "Several" of Martin's family members were also lost in the flooding, police said.
Odessa police officers are wearing mourning bands over their badges and asked residents to light up their porches with blue lights for the rest of the week in remembrance of Martin.
Where did the Texas flooding deaths happen?
The hardest-hit area from flooding was Kerr County, particularly Kerrville, a city about 60 miles outside San Antonio with just over 25,000 residents. Here's the breakdown of where the deaths occurred by county:
3 dead in New Mexico flooding
The south-central New Mexico resort town of Ruidoso was hit by devastating flash flooding Tuesday as slow-moving storms pounded areas still reeling from burn scars left by wildfires last year. The flooding came just four days after Texas' tragedy unfolded.
Three people have been confirmed dead, according to the village of Ruidoso. Two children, 4 and 7 years old, and a man between the ages of 40 and 50 were swept downstream and later found dead, the village said.
"Our hearts are broken for the families who have lost their loved ones in this terrible tragedy," Mayor Lynn Crawford said in a statement.
The flooding left people trapped in homes and prompted multiple water rescues after the Ruidoso River rose a record-breaking 20 feet in Ruidoso, a mountain town about 180 miles southeast of Albuquerque, in the Sierra Blanca mountain range, officials said. Emergency crews conducted dozens of swift-water rescues and searches were underway, Crawford said Tuesday.
Video of a house being swept away in floodwaters spread widely on social media and was acknowledged by Danielle Silva, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, who said the department didn't know if anyone was inside it.
− Natassia Paloma and Anthony Robledo
How to stay safe in a flood
It only takes 6 inches of rapidly moving water to knock you off your feet. And according to Weather.com, water flowing at just 6 mph exerts the same force per unit area as air blowing at EF5 tornado wind speeds. Water moving at 25 mph has the pressure equivalent of wind blowing at 790 mph, faster than the speed of sound.
In Texas on July 4, relentless rain overwhelmed the Guadalupe River, causing it to surge over 26 feet in less than an hour, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said.
Here are some ways to stay safe in a flood:
− Doyle Rice
Contributing: Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY; Reuters
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