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Texas death toll rises to 110 w/ 170 still missing amid criticism of late warning

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Texas flood death toll rises to 110 with 170 still missing as officials admit mistakes were made amid criticism of the timeliness of warnings
Texas flood death toll rises to 110 with 170 still missing as officials admit mistakes were made amid criticism of the timeliness of warnings
Texas flood death toll rises to 110 with 170 still missing as officials admit mistakes were made amid criticism of the timeliness of warnings
Texas flood death toll rises to 110 with 170 still missing as officials admit mistakes were made amid criticism of the timeliness of warnings. Pictured, Gov. Greg Abbott and Camp Mystic girl fatalities.

Texas flood death toll rises to 110 with 170 still missing as officials admit mistakes were made amid criticism of the timeliness of warnings sent out ahead of flash floods ravaging the area with Kerr County alone suffering 87 deaths, including 30 children. 

Texas authorities have announced over 170 people continue to remain missing four days after flash floods devastated central Texas and killed 110 people, amid criticism that more lives could have been saved had officials issued warnings far earlier when waters began deluging the area early on the morning of July 4th.

The flooding primarily affected the south-central Texas region, commonly referred to as the Hill Country. Up to six counties were severely affected including; Kerr, Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green, and Williamson.

Texas officials confronted with tough questions

The catastrophic flooding struck Friday with a surge of 20 to 26 feet on the Guadalupe River near Kerrville, spilling over adjacent river banks and sweeping campers and residences in its path.

Gov. Greg Abbott speaking to reporters on Tuesday, vowed to keep search crews on the ground until ‘every missing person is accounted for.’

‘We are not leaving until this job is finished,’ Abbott told reporters. ‘The primary job right now is locating everybody who was affected by this flood.’

Searchers last made a live rescue on Friday, the same day early-morning floods inundated the state’s Hill Country, according to a Kerrville Police Department official.

Hope for discovering missing flood victims alive fading

The missing include five children and one counselor from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp. The camp confirmed Monday that it was ‘grieving the loss’ of 27 campers and counselors.

In Kerr County alone, 161 people who are known to be missing. Officials have already recovered 87 bodies from the floods as of 8 a.m. Tuesday — of those, at least 30 were children.

Identification is pending for at least 19 adults and seven children.

The death toll is higher than that of Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Texas in 2017, killing 107 in total.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also declared the affected areas a public health emergency and will be providing resources for those affected.

Texas officials are dealing with ‘extremely treacherous’ terrain as they continue search-and-rescue operations, said Lt. Col. Ben Baker with Texas Parks and Wildlife on Tuesday.

While Rescue crews continue to comb through the region, officials admitted hope for survivors is fading.

Pressed for answers on the timeliness of warnings that went out prior to flash floods, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said a timeline of the flood alerts ‘is not a priority’ at the moment and that officials are focused on locating, identifying and notifying families of missing relatives.

Texas flood fatalities: who’s to blame? 

Public officials in charge of locating the victims faced continued scrutiny about who was in charge of monitoring the weather and warning that floodwaters were barreling toward camps and homes.

Asked about an investigation into the number of dead in the storm, Abbott characterized the question, which included the phrase ‘who’s to blame?’ as ‘the word choice of losers,’ before launching into a football analogy.

‘Every football team makes mistakes,’ the governor said.

‘The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who’s to blame. The championship teams are the ones that say, ‘Don’t worry, ma’am, we’ve got this.’’

The Guadalupe River remains under a flood warning from late tomorrow through Friday morning, with minor flooding expected, according to the National Weather Service

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