‘Unimaginable’: Texas flood death toll rises as Trump declares major disaster

The death toll from the devastating floods in central Texas has risen to 82, with many adults and children still missing, as President Donald Trump declared a major disaster over what he called an “unimaginable tragedy”.

In the worst-affected region, Kerr County, authorities said 68 people were confirmed dead – including 28 children – while 10 children and a counsellor from the Camp Mystic summer camp were still missing.

Officials inspect an area at Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas, on Sunday.Credit: AP

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service extended a flood watch for parts of Texas Hill Country until 7pm local time on Sunday (9am Monday AEST), with slow-moving thunderstorms expected to bring a further 25 to 75 millimetres rain.

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said of the bodies collected in his county, 18 adults and four children were yet to be identified. The death toll is expected to rise.

“These numbers are going to continue to change and increase,” Leitha said. “We will continue our search efforts until everybody is found.”

Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice said search and rescue operations resumed at 6am Sunday, local time, with increased personnel scouring the “really challenging shores” along the riverbank.

“We are seeing bodies recovered all over, up and down,” he said.

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 inside their homes, praying the water wouldn’t reach them.

At Camp Mystic, a cabin full of girls held on to a rope strung by rescuers as they walked across a bridge with water whipping around their legs.

But there were no immediate answers as to why flood warnings for the area, which were issued as early as Wednesday, did not reach campsites or prompt the evacuation of riverbank areas, such as Camp Mystic.

Crews work to clear debris from the Cade Loop bridge along the Guadalupe River on the weekend.Credit: AP

Rice said it was a “great question”, but authorities were focused on search-and-rescue operations for now.

In Travis County, which takes in the city of Austin, at least four people were confirmed dead, while three were killed in Burnet County, two in Kendall County and one each in Tom Green and Williamson counties.

Andy Brown, a judge in Travis County, said there were unconfirmed reports of up to 13 people missing in that region. Rescuers were searching approximately 30 kilometres along the banks of Sandy Creek, north of Austin.

Hundreds of searchers, helicopters, boats and drones have been looking for victims and rescuing people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads.

Federal relief and recovery assistance will flow to Texas after Trump declared a major disaster on Sunday.

“These families are enduring an unimaginable tragedy, with many lives lost, and many still missing,” he said on social media.

Controversially, the Trump administration has planned to defund and phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and hand its powers to state authorities.

On the way home from his New Jersey golf club on Sunday, he would not comment on those plans when asked by reporters. “FEMA is something we can talk about later, but right now they’re busy working, so we’ll leave it at that,” he said on Air Force One.

People react as they inspect an area outside the sleeping quarters at Camp Mystic.Credit: AP

Trump said first responders and the US Coast Guard had collectively saved more than 850 lives. He said he would visit the disaster scene, probably on Friday.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said a Coast Guard swimmer and petty officer, Scott Ruskin, directly saved 165 people during the first rescue mission of his career. “Scott Ruskin is an American hero,” she said.

Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott credited prayer for the successful rescues and called for people to pray for Texas. He said there were 41 people confirmed to be unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing.

“All we know is that prayer does work,” he said. “Prayer matters and we thank God almighty. God has blessed Texas and will continue to bless our great state.”

The Guadalupe River, the epicentre of the flooding, runs from Kerr County, west of Austin, in a south-easterly direction toward the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump this year ordered be renamed the Gulf of America.

The hills along the river are dotted with century-old youth camps and campgrounds, where generations of families have come to swim and enjoy the outdoors.

The area is especially popular around the July 4 Independence Day holiday, making it more difficult to know how many are missing.

“We don’t even want to begin to estimate at this time,” Rice said on the weekend.

Camp Mystic is a classic example of the US summer camp tradition: a nondenominational Christian camp for young girls, which draws primarily from nearby Texas cities. It was founded nearly 100 years ago, and about 700 girls were at the camp when the floods hit.

The Texas Hill region is particularly flood prone, and has become known as “Flash Flood Alley”. It is a semi-arid area, meaning the soil does not soak up much water, and the hills make the water move quickly when it floods.

First responders scan the banks of the Guadalupe River for individuals swept away by flooding in Ingram, Texas.Credit: AP/The San Antonia Express-News

The destructive, fast-moving waters rose eight metres on the river in only 45 minutes before daybreak on Friday.

“This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States,” said Rob Kelly, a Kerr County judge and the top elected official in the area.

Asked why the camps were not evacuated, despite the known flood risk and alerts, Kelly said: “I can’t answer that, I don’t know.”

“No one knew this kind of flood was coming. When it rains we get water.

“We had no reason to believe this was going to be anything like what’s happened here – none whatsoever,” he said.

People search through debris in Hunt on Sunday.Credit: AP

Although Hurricane Helene killed about 250 people when it rampaged through several states in late September last year, mostly due to flooding, the Texas floods already rank as one of the deadlier US weather events of recent years. On average, flash flooding kills about 127 Americans each year.

With AP

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