Bewildering accounts of survival revealed as death toll climbs to 80 with 11 children still missing in catastrophic Texas floods
Catastrophic flooding struck central Texas on Friday, with waters reaching between six and eight metres on the Guadalupe River, near Kerrville.
It caused widespread damage and a complete washing out of roads.
The death toll rose to 80 dead across six counties on Sunday US time, with officials in Kerr County reporting 68 deaths, including 40 adults and 28 children.
In Travis County, four people are believed dead while three others have lost their lives in Burnet County, two in Kendall Country and one death each reported in Tom Green and Williamson counties, officials have said.
Among the most devastating impacts of the flooding occurred at Camp Mystic summer camp, a nearly century-old Christian camp, where 11 girls and a counsellor are still missing.
The grandson of Camp Mystic's longtime director, Dick Eastland, said his grandfather had died while trying to save campers from the nightmare floodwaters.
On Friday when asked why the summer camps in the area were not evacuated, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county's top elected official said: 'I can't answer that. I don't know.'
Officials on Saturday said more than 850 people had been rescued, including some clinging to trees, after a sudden storm dumped up to 38 centimetres of rain across the region, about 140 km north-west of San Antonio.
"It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through," said Governor of Texas Greg Abbott, who toured the area on Saturday and pledged to continue efforts to locate the missing people.
President Donald Trump announced on Sunday he had 'signed a Major Disaster Declaration' for relief for Kerr County while the region deals with heavy rains and extreme flooding.
The declaration allows first responders to have the access they need as they continue to work on search and rescue efforts.
US Coast Guard helicopters and planes are helping the search and rescue efforts, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said.
'These families are enduring an unimaginable tragedy, with many lives lost, and many still missing,' Trump wrote to Truth Social.
Speaking to reporters late on Sunday, Trump vowed continued federal support for Texas and said he would 'probably' visit the state on Friday.
'We'll continue to be there. And we're working very closely with representatives from Texas, and it's a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible,' Trump told reporters as he departed New Jersey after a weekend at his golf club.
'So, we say, God bless all of the people that have gone through so much, and God bless, God bless the state of Texas,' Trump said.
Asked about his plans to phase out the FEMA, Trump said it was a matter for another time.
'FEMA is something we can talk about later, but right now, they're busy working, so we'll leave it at that,' he said.
The national weather service extended the flood watch over much of south-central Texas with several inches of rain still expected for the region on Sunday.
Two brothers, Brock and Braeden Davis, caught up in the terrifying floods described how their beds were 'tipping over' as the rapidly rising water forced them to flee for their lives.
The two young brothers had arrived at Camp La Junta earlier in the week and said they were abruptly woken up by the sound of screaming around 4am on Friday.
'I hear screaming from outside. Later on, I find out someone's cabin flooded, and they were outside in the middle of the rain,' Braeden said.
'We jumped up to another bed, a top bunk and like our beds started tipping over, and we got to the top really quick and then, one of the walls fell down,' Brock added.
The two boys waited 13 hours on the top bunk until they were found.
Trump has previously outlined plans to scale back the federal government's role in responding to natural disasters, leaving states to shoulder more of the burden themselves.
Some experts questioned whether cuts to the federal workforce by the Trump administration, including to the agency that oversees the National Weather Service, led to a failure by officials to accurately predict the severity of the floods and issue appropriate warnings ahead of the storm. - With Reuters
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