Kerr County, Texas (BN24) – The death toll from the catastrophic flash floods that tore through Central Texas climbed to at least 67 on Sunday, as rescue teams navigating treacherous debris fields recovered more bodies and pressed on in their search for the missing, including 11 young girls who vanished from a summer camp.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha confirmed that crews discovered 16 more victims since Saturday afternoon, bringing the county’s fatalities to 59. Among the dead were 21 children swept away by the fast-rising Guadalupe River. Leitha vowed that the search would not stop until “everybody is found” in the rugged Hill Country landscape that bore the brunt of Friday’s deluge.
Four additional deaths have been reported in Travis County, while Burnet County authorities counted three victims. One person was confirmed dead in Kendall County.
Emergency crews described grueling conditions as they combed riverbanks choked with splintered trees, wrecked vehicles, and thick layers of silt. Officials have not released an exact tally of the number still unaccounted for beyond the 11 girls and a camp counselor missing from Camp Mystic, a Christian retreat popular with families during the summer holidays.
As dawn broke Sunday, relatives were allowed into parts of the devastated camp to search for any sign of their loved ones. Nearby, crews operating excavators and chainsaws pulled massive tree trunks and snarled debris from the water in hopes of clearing paths to areas still inaccessible since the floodwaters surged.
Thunder rumbled over the region as a new round of storms threatened to hamper the operation and deepen an already staggering tragedy.
AP
