Death toll from Texas floods reaches 78, including 28 children; Trump plans visit

HUNT, Texas - The death toll from catastrophic floods in Texas reached at least 78 on July 6, including at least 28 children, as the search for girls missing from a summer camp entered a third day, and fears of more flash flooding prompted evacuations as rain fell on saturated ground.

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 68 people had died in flooding in his county, the epicentre of the flooding, among them 28 children.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, speaking at a press conference on the afternoon of July 6, said another 10 had died elsewhere in Texas and 41 were confirmed missing.

The governor did not say how many of the dead outside of Kerr were children.

President Donald Trump sent his condolences to the victims and said he would probably visit the area on July 11. His administration had been in touch with Mr Abbott, he added.

“It’s a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible. So we say, God bless all of the people that have gone through so much, and God bless, God bless the state of Texas,” he told reporters as he left New Jersey.

Among the most devastating impacts of the flooding occurred at Camp Mystic summer camp, a nearly century-old Christian girls camp where 10 campers and one counsellor were still missing, according to Sheriff Leitha.

“It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through,” said Mr Abbott, who said he toured the area on July 5 and pledged to continue efforts to locate those missing.

The flooding occurred after the nearby Guadalupe River

broke its banks following torrential rain

in the central Texas area on July 4, the US Independence Day holiday.

Texas Division of Emergency Management chief Nim Kidd said at the press conference on the afternoon of July 6 that the destruction killed three people in Burnet County, one in Tom Green County, five in Travis County, and one in Williamson County.

Mr Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, also said on July 6: “You will see the death toll rise today and tomorrow.”

Officials said on July 5 that more than 850 people had been rescued, including some clinging to trees, after a sudden storm dumped up to 38cm of rain across the region, about 140km north-west of San Antonio.

Sheriff Leitha told reporters: “Everyone in the community is hurting.”

A wall of water

Mr Kidd said he was receiving unconfirmed reports of “an additional wall of water” flowing down some of the creeks in the Guadalupe Rivershed, as rain continued to fall on soil in the region already saturated from the July 4 rains.

He said aircraft were sent aloft to scout for additional flood waters, while search-and-rescue personnel who might be in harm’s way were alerted to pull back from the river in the meantime.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings and advisories for central Texas that were to last until 4.15pm local time (5.15am Singapore time on July 7) as rain fell, potentially complicating rescue efforts.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) was activated on July 6 and is deploying resources to first responders in Texas after President Trump issued a major disaster declaration, said the Department of Homeland Security in a statement.

US Coast Guard helicopters and planes are helping the search-and-rescue efforts, the department said.

Scaling back

Mr Trump had 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.

Mr Trump’s administration has overseen thousands of job cuts from the National Weather Service’s parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), leaving many weather offices understaffed, said former NOAA director Rick Spinrad.

Mr Spinrad said he did not know if those staff cuts factored into the lack of advance warning for the extreme Texas flooding, but that they would inevitably degrade the agency’s ability to deliver accurate and timely forecasts.

Mr Trump pushed back when asked on July 6 if federal government cuts hobbled the disaster response or left key job vacancies at the National Weather Service.

“That water situation, that all is, and that was really the Biden set-up,” he said referencing his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden. “But I wouldn’t blame Biden for it, either. I would just say this is 100-year catastrophe.”

He declined to answer a question about Fema, saying only, “They’re busy working, so we’ll leave it at that”.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees Fema and NOAA, said a “moderate” flood watch issued on July 3 by the National Weather Service had not accurately predicted the extreme rainfall and said the Trump administration was working to upgrade the system.

Mr Joaquin Castro, a Democratic US congressman from Texas, told CNN’s State Of The Union programme that fewer personnel at the weather service could be dangerous.

“When you have flash flooding, there’s a risk that if you don’t have the personnel... to do that analysis, do the predictions in the best way, it could lead to tragedy,” Mr Castro said.

‘Complete devastation’

Ms Katharine Somerville, a counsellor on the Cypress Lake side of Camp Mystic, which is on higher ground than the Guadalupe River side, said her 13-year-old campers were scared as their cabins were damaged and they lost power in the middle of the night.

“Our cabins at the top of hills were completely flooded with water. I mean, you all have seen the complete devastation, we never even imagined that this could happen,” Ms Somerville said in an interview on Fox News on July 6.

She said the campers in her care were put on military trucks and evacuated, and that all were safe.

The disaster unfolded rapidly on the morning of July 4 as heavier-than-forecast rain drove river waters rapidly to as high as 9m.

A day after the disaster struck, the summer camp, where 700 girls were in residence at the time of the flooding, was a scene of devastation.

Inside one cabin, mud lines indicating how high the water had risen were at least 1.83m from the floor.

Bed frames, mattresses and personal belongings caked with mud were scattered inside. Some buildings had broken windows, and one had a missing wall. REUTERS