Texas flood death toll rises to 131 as new storms loom
A National Weather Service flood watch forecasting heavy downpours of up to 152mm of rain was posted until Tuesday morning for a wide swath of central Texas extending from the Rio Grande east to San Antonio and Austin.
The advisory included Kerr County and other parts of Texas Hill Country along the Guadalupe still recovering from the July 4 flood disaster, which ravaged the county seat of Kerrville and a riverside Christian summer camp for girls in the nearby town of Hunt.
Riverfront residents as well as search teams still combing the banks of the waterway were advised to seek higher ground until the latest danger had passed.
The search for additional victims along the Guadalupe was likewise suspended due to flood concerns on Sunday.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said storms had claimed at least 131 lives in Texas since July 4, the bulk of those deaths in and around Kerrville, up from 120 reported on Friday.
He said 97 people were still listed as missing in the greater Kerrville area, down from the 160-plus who authorities said were unaccounted for last week.
About a third of the Kerr County fatalities are children, most of whom perished at Camp Mystic when floodwaters raged through the girls-only summer retreat before dawn on July 4.
Authorities have not rescued anyone alive since the day of the floods, when more than 300mm of rain fell in less than an hour in the heart of a region known as "flash flood alley," sending a deadly wall of water down the Guadalupe River basin.
Abbott said state politicians would investigate the circumstances of the flooding, disaster preparedness and emergency response to the flooding at a special legislative session set to convene later this month.
The high casualty toll, ranking as one of the deadliest US flood events in decades, has raised questions about the lack of flash-flood warning sirens in Kerr County and vacancies left at National Weather Service offices amid staffing cuts under the Trump administration.
with AP
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More than 130 dead and 100 missing after Texas floods
The search for the more than 100 people missing after devastating floods in Texas will take months, officials say, as the death toll rose to at least 133. Search efforts in the Hill Country area, characterised by its mountainous terrain, resumed on Tuesday after being paused due to heavy rain. In Kerr County, the worst affected area, the number of fatalities rose to 107, including at least 36 children, according to officials. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said a large percentage of people missing for were probably visiting the area. "We don't know how many came, we don't know where they are, we don't know how many we lost," he said. "We've heard accounts of trailer after trailer after trailer being swept into the (Guadalupe River) with families in them. Can't find trailers." Dozens of volunteers and emergency teams are continuing to dig through the rubble and search through kilometres of properties. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said 97 people were reported missing in Kerr. Abbott said those people were not registered in a "camp or a hotel." The floods struck during the July 4 public holiday in the United States for Independence Day. Hundreds of tourists had travelled to Texas Hill Country, a popular destination due to its proximity to the Guadalupe River, which overflowed, causing the disaster. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said the process to find all the missing people would take up to six months. Local authorities have faced scrutiny over Leitha's response to the floods and deficiencies in the alert system. An investigation by The New York Times revealed despite a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warning the region would "likely" flood in 2025, Kerr County had not received funding to improve the flood alert system. In a report published in 2024, FEMA estimated that the cost of the new system, concentrating on the Guadalupe River, would be $US1 million, the newspaper said. Between the night of July 3 and early July 4, the National Weather Service recorded between 127 and 279mm of rain in Kerr, Bandera, Tom Green, and Kendall counties. with AP The search for the more than 100 people missing after devastating floods in Texas will take months, officials say, as the death toll rose to at least 133. Search efforts in the Hill Country area, characterised by its mountainous terrain, resumed on Tuesday after being paused due to heavy rain. In Kerr County, the worst affected area, the number of fatalities rose to 107, including at least 36 children, according to officials. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said a large percentage of people missing for were probably visiting the area. "We don't know how many came, we don't know where they are, we don't know how many we lost," he said. "We've heard accounts of trailer after trailer after trailer being swept into the (Guadalupe River) with families in them. Can't find trailers." Dozens of volunteers and emergency teams are continuing to dig through the rubble and search through kilometres of properties. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said 97 people were reported missing in Kerr. Abbott said those people were not registered in a "camp or a hotel." The floods struck during the July 4 public holiday in the United States for Independence Day. Hundreds of tourists had travelled to Texas Hill Country, a popular destination due to its proximity to the Guadalupe River, which overflowed, causing the disaster. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said the process to find all the missing people would take up to six months. Local authorities have faced scrutiny over Leitha's response to the floods and deficiencies in the alert system. An investigation by The New York Times revealed despite a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warning the region would "likely" flood in 2025, Kerr County had not received funding to improve the flood alert system. In a report published in 2024, FEMA estimated that the cost of the new system, concentrating on the Guadalupe River, would be $US1 million, the newspaper said. Between the night of July 3 and early July 4, the National Weather Service recorded between 127 and 279mm of rain in Kerr, Bandera, Tom Green, and Kendall counties. with AP The search for the more than 100 people missing after devastating floods in Texas will take months, officials say, as the death toll rose to at least 133. Search efforts in the Hill Country area, characterised by its mountainous terrain, resumed on Tuesday after being paused due to heavy rain. In Kerr County, the worst affected area, the number of fatalities rose to 107, including at least 36 children, according to officials. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said a large percentage of people missing for were probably visiting the area. "We don't know how many came, we don't know where they are, we don't know how many we lost," he said. "We've heard accounts of trailer after trailer after trailer being swept into the (Guadalupe River) with families in them. Can't find trailers." Dozens of volunteers and emergency teams are continuing to dig through the rubble and search through kilometres of properties. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said 97 people were reported missing in Kerr. Abbott said those people were not registered in a "camp or a hotel." The floods struck during the July 4 public holiday in the United States for Independence Day. Hundreds of tourists had travelled to Texas Hill Country, a popular destination due to its proximity to the Guadalupe River, which overflowed, causing the disaster. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said the process to find all the missing people would take up to six months. Local authorities have faced scrutiny over Leitha's response to the floods and deficiencies in the alert system. An investigation by The New York Times revealed despite a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warning the region would "likely" flood in 2025, Kerr County had not received funding to improve the flood alert system. In a report published in 2024, FEMA estimated that the cost of the new system, concentrating on the Guadalupe River, would be $US1 million, the newspaper said. Between the night of July 3 and early July 4, the National Weather Service recorded between 127 and 279mm of rain in Kerr, Bandera, Tom Green, and Kendall counties. with AP The search for the more than 100 people missing after devastating floods in Texas will take months, officials say, as the death toll rose to at least 133. Search efforts in the Hill Country area, characterised by its mountainous terrain, resumed on Tuesday after being paused due to heavy rain. In Kerr County, the worst affected area, the number of fatalities rose to 107, including at least 36 children, according to officials. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said a large percentage of people missing for were probably visiting the area. "We don't know how many came, we don't know where they are, we don't know how many we lost," he said. "We've heard accounts of trailer after trailer after trailer being swept into the (Guadalupe River) with families in them. Can't find trailers." Dozens of volunteers and emergency teams are continuing to dig through the rubble and search through kilometres of properties. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said 97 people were reported missing in Kerr. Abbott said those people were not registered in a "camp or a hotel." The floods struck during the July 4 public holiday in the United States for Independence Day. Hundreds of tourists had travelled to Texas Hill Country, a popular destination due to its proximity to the Guadalupe River, which overflowed, causing the disaster. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said the process to find all the missing people would take up to six months. Local authorities have faced scrutiny over Leitha's response to the floods and deficiencies in the alert system. An investigation by The New York Times revealed despite a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warning the region would "likely" flood in 2025, Kerr County had not received funding to improve the flood alert system. In a report published in 2024, FEMA estimated that the cost of the new system, concentrating on the Guadalupe River, would be $US1 million, the newspaper said. Between the night of July 3 and early July 4, the National Weather Service recorded between 127 and 279mm of rain in Kerr, Bandera, Tom Green, and Kendall counties. with AP
