81 dead and dozens missing in Texas floods as more rain looms
Sixty-eight of the fatalities, including 28 children, were in Kerr County, where a riverside Christian girls' camp was deluged. Ten girls and a counsellor from Camp Mystic are still missing.
There are five confirmed casualties in Travis County, three in Burnet County, two in Williamson County, two in Kendall County and one in Tom Green County.
Figures are changing quickly as rescuers continue to search for the missing, and officials say the death toll is certain to rise.
Of those recovered in Kerr County, 18 adults and 10 children have yet to be formally identified.
More storms are expected in the next 24-48 hours in the region, which could hamper rescue teams who are already facing venomous snakes as they sift through mud and debris.
Three days after the inundation, one of the largest search-and-rescue efforts in recent Texas history was shifting towards a recovery operation.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Sunday that authorities would "stop at nothing" to ensure every missing person is found.
"It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through," said Abbott, a day after he toured the area.
A major focus of the search has been Camp Mystic, a popular summer camp for girls perched on the banks of the Guadalupe River, which suffered significant damage.
The catastrophe unfolded before daybreak on Friday as the river rose 26ft (8m) in the span of just 45 minutes while most campers were asleep.
Several young campers and the camp's longtime director, Richard "Dick" Eastland, are among the dead.
Greg Froelick, a former Navy Seal and volunteer with the rescue group 300 Justice, is helping the effort to find survivors.
Speaking to the BBC, he said he had heard of victims being found up to eight miles downriver from where Camp Mystic once stood.
He said he has seen "clothing and items from the camp dressers scattered everywhere, up and down the river".
There is also uncertainty about how many other people were camping in the area for the Fourth of July weekend - and how many may have been swept away in the floods.
A two-lane highway that skirts the Guadalupe River and connects the city of Kerrville to Camp Mystic is a scene of devastation.
Ravaged homes are surrounded by fallen trees and furniture scattered across lawns. Fences are toppled and utility lines down in some areas.
President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration on Sunday for Kerr County, activating the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Texas. He also said he would probably visit the state on Friday.
"We're working very closely with representatives from Texas, and it's a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible," Trump said on Sunday in New Jersey.
On the ground, local residents are stepping up to support relief efforts - collecting supplies, offering shelter, and doing what they can to help neighbours displaced by the storm.
Alma Garcia drove in from the city of San Antonio to deliver home-cooked meals to residents and volunteers helping with the clean-up effort.
The BBC saw her pull over on the side of the road and take off a top layer T-shirt to give to a resident.
"She was all wet, I told her she's going to need it," Ms Garcia told the BBC.
Local resident Perla started collecting clothes and shoes on Friday after she finished her shift at Walmart. She dropped them off at a shelter the next morning.
"I've never seen something like this before," she told the BBC.
Meanwhile, well wishes poured in from around the world.
In Rome, Pope Leo XIV offered special prayers on Sunday for the bereaved in Texas.
"I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in summer camp, in the disaster caused by the flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas in the United States," the pontiff said.
"We pray for them." — BBC
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With more rain on the way, the risk of life-threatening flooding was still high in central Texas on Monday even as crews urgently searched for the missing following a holiday weekend deluge that killed at least 82 people, including children at summer camps. Officials said the death toll was sure to rise. Residents of Kerr County began clearing mud and salvaging what they could from their demolished properties as they recounted harrowing escapes from rapidly rising floodwaters late Friday. Reagan Brown said his parents, in their 80s, managed to escape uphill as water inundated their home in the town of Hunt. 'When the couple learned that their 92-year-old neighbor was trapped in her attic, they went back and rescued her. Then they were able to reach their toolshed up higher ground, and neighbors throughout the early morning began to show up at their toolshed, and they all rode it out together,' Brown said. A few miles away, rescuers maneuvering through challenging terrain filled with snakes continued their search for the missing, including 10 girls and a counselor from Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp that sustained massive damage. Gov. Greg Abbott said 41 people were unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing. In the Hill Country area, home to several summer camps, searchers have found the bodies of 68 people, including 28 children, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. Ten other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green, and Williamson counties, according to local officials. The governor warned that additional rounds of heavy rains lasting into Tuesday could produce more dangerous flooding, especially in places already saturated. Families were allowed to look around the camp beginning Sunday morning. One girl walked out of a building carrying a large bell. A man whose daughter was rescued from a cabin on the highest point in the camp walked a riverbank, looking in clumps of trees and under big rocks. One family left with a blue footlocker. A teenage girl had tears running down her face as they slowly drove away and she gazed through the open window at the wreckage. Nearby, crews operating heavy equipment pulled tree trunks and tangled branches from the river. With each passing hour, the outlook of finding more survivors became even more bleak. Volunteers and some families of the missing came to the disaster zone and searched despite being asked not to do so. Authorities faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in an area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made. President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration Sunday for Kerr County and said he would likely visit Friday. 'I would have done it today, but we'd just be in their way. It's a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible,' he told reporters. Gov. Greg Abbott vowed that authorities will work around the clock and said new areas were being searched as the water receded. He declared Sunday a day of prayer for the state. In Rome, Pope Leo XIV offered special prayers for those touched by the disaster. 'I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in summer camp in the disaster caused by the flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas in the US. We pray for them,' the first American pope spoke in English at the end of his Sunday noon blessing. Survivors shared terrifying stories of being swept away and clinging to trees as rampaging floodwaters carried trees and cars past them. Others fled to attics, praying the water wouldn't reach them. At Camp Mystic, a cabin full of girls held onto a rope strung by rescuers as they walked across a bridge with water whipping around their legs. Among those confirmed dead were an 8-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was at Camp Mystic and the director of another camp up the road. Two school-age sisters from Dallas were missing after their cabin was swept away. Their parents were staying in a different cabin and were safe, but the girls' grandparents were unaccounted for. On Thursday, the National Weather Service advised of potential flooding and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies–a rare alert notifying of imminent danger. Authorities and elected officials have said they did not expect such an intense downpour, the equivalent of months worth of rain for the area. Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said authorities are committed to a full review of the emergency response. Trump, asked whether he was still planning to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said that was 'something we can talk about later, but right now we are busy working.' He has said he wants to overhaul, if not completely eliminate, FEMA and sharply criticized its performance. Trump also was asked whether he planned to rehire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year as part of widespread government spending cuts. 'I would think not. This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it. Nobody saw it. Very talented people there, and they didn't see it,' the president said.
