By AFP
“Just in the Kerr county area alone, there are 161 people who are known to be missing,” Governor Greg Abbott told reporters.
He added the figure was based on people reported as unaccounted for by friends, relatives and neighbours.
Four days after flash floods roared through several Texas counties, some in the middle of the night, hopes of finding survivors were fading – and Governor Greg Abbott warned that the list of those unaccounted for could yet rise.
“There very likely could be more added to that list,” he said, adding that the figure was based on people reported as unaccounted for by friends, relatives and neighbours.
Kerr County, part of a central Texas region known as “Flash Flood Alley”, suffered the most damage, with at least 94 fatalities.
That includes at least 27 girls and counsellors who were staying at a youth summer camp on the Guadalupe River when it burst its banks as the Fourth of July holiday began in the early hours of Friday.
Torrents of water swept through the camp, scouring cabins as hundreds of people slept.
Five campers and one counsellor were still missing as of Tuesday evening, according to Abbott, as well as another child not associated with the camp.
“There’s nothing more important in our hearts and minds than the people of this community, especially those who are still lost,” Abbott said.
Elsewhere in the state, there have been at least 15 fatalities recorded so far, the governor added.
Ben Baker with the Texas Game Wardens said search and rescue efforts involving helicopters, drones and dogs were extremely difficult because of the water and mud.
“When we’re trying to make these recoveries, these large piles can be very obstructive, and to get in deep into these piles, it’s very hazardous,” Baker said.
“It’s extremely treacherous, time-consuming. It’s dirty work, the water is still there.”
The US National Weather Service on Tuesday declared a flash flood emergency in Ruidoso, a small town 296km (184 miles) south of Albuquerque, in the neighbouring state of New Mexico.
Officials reported several people were trapped by sudden floodwaters, with multiple homes sustaining damage. The NWS said the Rio Ruidoso may have crested more than 6 metres (20 feet).
In the town of Hunt, the epicentre of the disaster, recovery workers combed through piles of debris as helicopters flew overhead.
