Four days after deadly and destructive floods ravaged parts of Texas last week, at least 161 people remain missing in a single county, Governor Greg Abbott announced. Hopes of finding survivors alive are fading as search and rescue efforts continue.
Devastation in Kerr County
The missing in Kerr County, the hardest-hit area, include five campers and a counselor from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls located on the banks of the Guadalupe River. At least 109 people have died in the disaster, with 94 fatalities recorded in the Kerrville area alone, Abbott stated during a press conference on Tuesday.
Texas is not alone in facing extreme weather. New Mexico has also declared a state of emergency due to flash floods, and the National Weather Service (NWS) warned of intense flooding expected Tuesday night.
Intense Search Efforts Amidst Unprecedented Destruction
In Texas, frantic search and rescue operations are ongoing, with Governor Abbott vowing that emergency teams “will not stop until every missing person is found.” Abbott added that the number of missing persons is likely to increase in the coming days and urged citizens to report anyone they believe is unaccounted for.
General Thomas Suelzer of the Texas National Guard stated that search efforts involve Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters equipped with rescue hoists. He confirmed that 13 Black Hawk helicopters are engaged in the search, including four that arrived from Arkansas. Authorities are also utilizing Reaper drones.
Rescue efforts are being conducted in cooperation with various units, including border patrol agents, the FBI, and the National Guard. More than 250 response team members from different agencies have been assigned to the Kerrville area alone to assist in search and rescue.
One rescue volunteer, identified as Tim, told the BBC that he had never witnessed destruction of this scale before. “I’ve been involved in floods in eastern and southeastern Texas, even hurricanes, but this is a nightmare,” he said. Another rescue volunteer, Justin, compared the effort to “looking for a needle in a haystack.” “There’s a wide swath of destruction for miles, and there aren’t enough tracking dogs to get through all of it,” he told the BBC. “It’s difficult to reach many areas with heavy machinery. The guys are trying to dig with tools and by hand, but they’re not even scratching the surface – not for lack of trying.”
