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KERRVILLE, Texas -- The decease toll from catastrophic flooding successful Texas implicit the July Fourth play surpassed 100 connected Monday arsenic search-and-rescue teams continued to wade into swollen rivers and usage dense instrumentality to untangle trees arsenic portion of the monolithic hunt for missing people.
Authorities overseeing the hunt for flood victims said they volition hold to code questions astir upwind warnings and wherefore immoderate summertime camps did not evacuate up of the flooding that killed astatine slightest 104.
The officials spoke lone hours aft the operators of Camp Mystic, a century-old all-girls Christian summertime campy successful the Texas Hill Country, announced that they mislaid 27 campers and counselors to the floodwaters. Kerr County officials said Monday 10 campers and 1 counsellor person inactive not been found.
Searchers person recovered the bodies of 84 people, including 28 children, successful the region location to Camp Mystic and respective different summertime camps, officials said.
With further rainfall connected the way, much flooding inactive threatened saturated parts of cardinal Texas. Authorities said the decease toll was definite to rise.
The raging flash floods - among the nation's worst successful decades - slammed into camps and homes on the borderline of the Guadalupe River earlier daybreak Friday, pulling sleeping radical retired of their cabins, tents and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating histrion trunks and cars. Some survivors were recovered clinging to trees.
Piles of twisted trees sprinkled with mattresses, refrigerators and coolers littered the riverbanks Monday. The debris included reminders of what drew truthful galore to the campgrounds and cabins successful the Hill Country - a volleyball, canoes and a household portrait.
Nineteen deaths were reported successful Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, section officials said.
Among those confirmed dormant were 8-year-old sisters from Dallas who were astatine Camp Mystic and a erstwhile shot manager and his woman who were staying astatine a riverfront home. Their daughters were inactive missing.
Calls for uncovering wherefore warnings weren't heard
Authorities vowed that 1 of the adjacent steps would beryllium investigating whether capable warnings were issued and wherefore immoderate camps did not evacuate oregon determination to higher crushed successful a spot agelong susceptible to flooding that immoderate section residents notation to arsenic "flash flood alley."
That volition see a reappraisal of however upwind warnings were sent retired and received. One of the challenges is that galore camps and cabins are successful places with mediocre cellphone service, Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said.
"We decidedly privation to dive successful and look astatine each those things," helium said. "We're looking guardant to doing that erstwhile we tin get the hunt and rescue complete."
Some camps were alert of the dangers and monitoring the weather. At slightest 1 moved respective 100 campers to higher crushed earlier the floods.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said caller authorities spending cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service did not hold immoderate warnings.
"There's a clip to person governmental fights, there's a clip to disagree. This is not that time," Cruz said. "There volition beryllium a clip to find retired what could been done differently. My anticipation is successful clip we larn immoderate lessons to instrumentality the adjacent clip determination is simply a flood."
The upwind work archetypal advised of imaginable flooding connected Thursday and past sent retired a bid of flash flood warnings successful the aboriginal hours of Friday earlier issuing flash flood emergencies - a uncommon measurement that alerts the nationalist to imminent danger.
Authorities and elected officials person said they did not expect specified an aggravated downpour, the equivalent of months of rain. Some residents said they ne'er received immoderate warnings.
President Donald Trump, who signed a large catastrophe declaration for Kerr County, said helium plans to sojourn the authorities connected Friday. He had said Sunday that helium does not program to rehire immoderate of the national meteorologists who were fired this year.
"This was a happening that happened successful seconds. Nobody expected it," the president said.
White House property caput Karoline Leavitt said section and national upwind services provided capable warnings.
Crews hunt for dozens of people
More than 3 twelve radical were unaccounted for crossed the authorities and much could beryllium missing, Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday.
Search-and-rescue crews astatine 1 staging country said Monday that much than 1,000 volunteers had been directed to Kerr County.
Kerrville metropolis officials urged radical to halt flying drones implicit the country aft they said a backstage drone operating illegally Monday day collided with a chopper progressive successful exigency operations. The chopper was forced to marque an exigency landing and is retired of work until further notice.
Little clip to flight floods
Reagan Brown said his parents, successful their 80s, managed to flight uphill arsenic h2o inundated their location successful the municipality of Hunt. When the mates learned that their 92-year-old neighbour was trapped successful her attic, they went backmost and rescued her.
"Then they were capable to scope their instrumentality shed up higher ground, and neighbors passim the aboriginal greeting began to amusement up astatine their instrumentality shed, and they each rode it retired together," Brown said.
Elizabeth Lester, a parent of children who were astatine Camp Mystic and adjacent Camp La Junta during the flood, said her young lad had to aquatics retired his compartment model to escape. Her girl fled up the hillside arsenic floodwaters whipped against her legs.
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