The death toll from the catastrophic floods that struck central Texas has risen to at least 78, including 28 children, with dozens still missing and rescue operations continuing under challenging conditions.
Former President Donald Trump announced plans to visit the devastated region on Friday, following his expression of condolences.
The worst-hit area is Kerr County in Texas Hill Country, where Sheriff Larry Leitha confirmed that 68 fatalities occurred, including those of children attending the nearly century-old Camp Mystic girls’ summer camp.
Eleven individuals, 10 campers and one counselor, remain unaccounted for after the Guadalupe River burst its banks early Friday, triggered by up to 15 inches (38 cm) of torrential rain.
“It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said during a Sunday press briefing. He confirmed a further 10 deaths across four other counties and reported 41 individuals still missing.
The U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have been deployed to aid in search-and-rescue operations after President Trump issued a federal disaster declaration.
Despite FEMA’s activation, scrutiny has mounted over whether federal staffing cuts, particularly at the National Weather Service, hampered the ability to provide timely flood warnings.
When questioned, Trump dismissed suggestions that his administration’s staffing decisions played a role.
“That water situation… that was really the Biden setup,” he said, before adding, “I wouldn’t blame Biden either. This is a 100-year catastrophe.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acknowledged the National Weather Service’s Thursday advisory had only issued a “moderate” flood watch, failing to predict the scale of the disaster. Former NOAA head Rick Spinrad warned that ongoing staffing shortages would inevitably degrade forecasting abilities.
Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro echoed the concern, saying, “When you have flash flooding… there’s a risk that without enough personnel to analyze and predict weather accurately, it could lead to tragedy.”
At Camp Mystic, where 700 girls had been in residence, survivors described scenes of chaos and destruction. Katharine Somerville, a counselor, recounted how floodwaters reached cabins on high ground. “Our cabins at the tippity top of hills were completely flooded with water,” she told Fox News. “We never imagined this could happen.”
More than 850 people have been rescued so far, some pulled from trees or rooftops. Officials fear that with more rain forecast and soil already saturated, further flooding may occur.
Emergency evacuations of both residents and volunteers are underway in parts of the Guadalupe Rivershed amid reports of another “wall of water” forming.
As search efforts intensify and survivors begin to assess the damage, the full scale of the disaster, both in loss and in questions about preparedness, is only beginning to emerge.
Written By Rodney Mbua
