Texas flood death toll tops more than 70; dozens still missing
World
Rescuers in Texas raced against time Sunday to find dozens of missing people.
TEXAS (AP) - The death toll from flash floods in Texas rose to at least 79 on Sunday after searchers found more more bodies in the hardest-hit Kerr County and additional deaths were reported in other counties. The victims include children who were camping along the Guadalupe River banks.
Rescuers in Texas raced against time Sunday to find dozens of missing people, including children, swept away by flash floods that killed at least 79, as forecasters warned of new deluges.
Local Texans joined forces with disaster officials on the ground and in helicopters to search for the missing, including 10 girls and a counselor from a riverside Christian summer camp where some 750 people had been staying when disaster struck.
In a terrifying display of nature's power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins in Camp Mystic as girls slept overnight Friday, washing away some of them and leaving a scene of devastation.
Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings ended up caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.
Rescuers in Texas raced against time Sunday to find dozens of missing people, including children, swept away by flash floods that killed at least 79, as forecasters warned of new deluges.
Local Texans joined forces with disaster officials on the ground and in helicopters to search for the missing, including 10 girls and a counselor from a riverside Christian summer camp where some 750 people had been staying when disaster struck.
In a terrifying display of nature's power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins in Camp Mystic as girls slept overnight Friday, washing away some of them and leaving a scene of devastation.
Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings ended up caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.
The flooding began at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend as months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, much of it coming overnight as people slept.
The Guadalupe surged some 26 feet (eight meters) -- more than a two-story building- in just 45 minutes.
'WASHED AWAY'
President Donald Trump, at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, signed a major disaster declaration that freed up resources for the state.
Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual.
The region of south and central Texas where the weekend's deluge occurred is known colloquially as "Flash Flood Alley."
But scientists say that in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense.
People from elsewhere in Texas converged on Kerr County to help look for the missing.
Texans also started flying personal drones to help look but Rice urged them to stop this, saying it is a danger for rescue aircraft.
One of the searches focused on four young women who were staying in a house that was washed away by the river. Adam Durda and his wife Amber, both 45, drove three hours to chip in.
"There was a group of 20-year-olds that were in a house that had gotten washed away," Durda told AFP. "That's who the family requested helped for, but of course, we're looking for anybody."
