Number of missing from floods in Texas county drops from nearly 100 to 3

Boston Globe

a day ago

'This remarkable progress reflects countless hours of coordinated search and rescue operations, careful investigative work, and an unwavering commitment to bringing clarity and hope to families during an unimaginably difficult time,' said Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice.
Numbers of those missing in natural disasters are often fluid and can decline dramatically. Overwhelmed local officials can struggle to obtain an accurate count, especially when those missing involve visitors to the affected region or people without stable housing.
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Some of those initially described as unaccounted for in Kerr County — the county most impacted by the deadly flooding on July 4 — did not live in the area but had traveled there for the holiday weekend.
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That so many had remained missing more than two weeks after the devastating flooding deepened the horror of the tragedy, which left at least 135 people dead, dozens of them children. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has pledged to continue the search until every person is found.
'Our thoughts remain with the families still awaiting news, and we will continue to stand with them as efforts persist,' Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. said Saturday.
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On Monday, the Texas legislature is expected to convene in Austin for a special session in which lawmakers will discuss the catastrophic flooding. State legislative leaders have formed committees to examine flood warning systems, relief efforts, and disaster preparedness. They plan to hold a hearing in Kerrville on July 31.
Jonathan Lamb, spokesman for the Kerrville Police Department, said in a statement Sunday that investigators had engaged in an 'exhaustive effort to verify the status of each individual who was reported missing,' narrowing hundreds of names down to three.
'This process takes time, but it is essential to ensure that every lead is thoroughly followed and each person is properly accounted for,' Lamb said.
When flash floods surge through rural areas with rugged terrain, it can take days or even weeks to locate missing people and uncover the bodies of those who were washed away. After Hurricane Helene slammed into western North Carolina in September, the American Red Cross received more than 9,000 reunification requests from family members seeking loved ones.
The vast majority were ultimately discovered trapped in isolated locations or lost in the shuffle at shelters, and within a few weeks, the number of people unaccounted for dropped from the thousands to the single digits.
The force of the flood waters also complicated the search: The body of one man reported missing from a campground in North Carolina was found six months later at a spot about 12 miles away. At least two other women from the state still have not been found.
A similar dynamic unfolded after the devastating 2023 wildfire in Maui, which killed 102 people. More than 1,000 others were initially unaccounted for a week later. A month after the fire, the figure dropped from 385 to 66. Two people remain missing.
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For weeks, more than 1,000 local, state, and federal responders, along with thousands of volunteers, have combed 60 miles of the Guadalupe River through communities in Kerr County and farther south. As hope of finding survivors faded, the massive effort essentially became a search for remains.
For those whose loved ones disappeared in the flood waters, the agonizing wait goes on. Sherry McCutcheon, 66, works for the Texas Department of Public Safety. Her mother and one of her brothers died when the rising waters overtook their home in Leander, about 25 miles north of Austin, she said. Another brother, Gary Traugott, 60, remains missing.
Frustrated by the lack of information from local officials, McCutcheon and her neighbors compiled their own list of the missing, which they posted on Facebook. Most were found dead; seven were found safe. Three remained missing Sunday, including Traugott.
On Friday, McCutcheon was at a funeral home planning the burial services for her mother and brother when officials called to say that a body had been found under a washed-out bridge. On Sunday, McCutcheon was awaiting the results of DNA tests to see whether it was her brother Gary.
'If this person isn't Gary, I don't know what we're going to do,' she said.
Some living near the Guadalupe said they feared the true number of the dead and missing would never be known. Lorena Guillen, who owns Blue Oak RV Park in Kerrville, said she had heard there were Honduran and Mexican undocumented immigrants who were afraid to report the missing for fear of being apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 'There's a whole underground community here,' Guillen said.
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Kevin LaFond, southern region commander for United Cajun Navy volunteers, said it wasn't clear why the number of missing dropped so quickly in Kerr County, adding that his team was still working to search more inaccessible areas devastated by the floods.
'It's hard to have any confidence in a number until those areas are reached,' LaFond said. 'The numbers have fluctuated since the beginning, and probably are going to fluctuate at the end.'