Five days after the Guadalupe River in Texas surged 29 feet in a matter of hours, more than 160 people remain unaccounted for, including six people from a popular girls' summer camp.
At least 161 people were believed to still be missing in Texas on Tuesday, four days after catastrophic flash floods ravaged Central Texas over the weekend.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a press conference on Tuesday that figure counted people still missing in Kerr County.
Authorities have not given an exact number of how many people remain unaccounted for statewide.At least six people from Camp Mystic, a summer camp for girls, remain missing as of Tuesday. Five of the six people missing from Camp Mystic are campers, with the remaining unaccounted person being a counselor.One other child who was not associated with the camp was also believed to be missing.Twenty-seven people died at the camp from the flooding, officials said.RELATED STORY | Texas Flood Tragedy: A Scripps News special report on the Guadalupe River floodsThe statewide death toll from the floods stood at at least 109 on Tuesday afternoon.The Kerr County Sheriff's Office said early Tuesday that the bodies of 87 people, including those of 30 children, have been recovered in the county.Officials are still working to identify 19 adults and seven children.Authorities said there have not been any live rescues since Friday.State National Guard officials said search efforts would continue, both on the ground and in the air with the help of helicopters and at least one UAV.Scrutiny over weather warnings continuesAlthough the National Weather Service issued flood watches and warnings, how those warnings were relayed to the public is facing scrutiny. Survivors of last week's flooding reported that they were unaware the Guadalupe River had swelled to record levels on Friday. 'I thought it was just lightning and thunderstorm,' camp counselor Caroline Cutrona told CNN. 'I had no idea the severity. I mean, I was awake throughout the night because it was loud and the cabins were shaking, but we've had thunderstorms and lightning at Camp Mystic multiple times and it's always been OK and so I always thought it was going to be OK.'An official measurement of the river indicates that levels rose 29 feet in less than two hours on the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas.Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha would not answer questions about who was in charge of emergency operations at the time of the flooding. He also would not answer questions on what measures were taken after the National Weather Service issued warnings. He said answers to these questions would have to wait as his focus is on search and recovery operations, as well as notifying the next of kin of victims.President Trump poised to visit TexasPresident Donald Trump told reporters he intends to visit Texas on Friday to oversee recovery efforts. 'That was a terrible event, terrible event,' he said. 'You saw that maybe where Texas was just absolutely so badly hurt by something that was a big surprise late in the evening. So we'll be working with the governor and all of the people of Texas.'The devastating floods in central Texas have left families and communities in urgent need of support. Scripps News and the Scripps Howard Fund are partnering to provide critical relief to those impacted. Every dollar donated here will go directly to helping victims recover.
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