U.S. President Donald Trump signed a natural disaster emergency declaration on Sunday to address the flooding in Texas, where the death toll continues to rise as search and rescue efforts progress. According to the latest report, the death toll has now reached 78, including at least 20 minors.
"These families are enduring an unimaginable tragedy. Many lives have been lost, and many more remain missing," the president wrote on his Truth Social account.
The decision allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to deploy to the area to support local and state authorities, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
Since early Friday morning, rescue teams and volunteers have been searching the affected regions in search of victims and moving debris.
Most of the deaths are in Kerr County, one of the counties hardest hit by the flooding of the Guadalupe River. Authorities there have found 59 dead, 38 of whom are adults and 21 are minors.
The whereabouts of 11 of the 27 girls and young women who were spending the summer at the Christian camp Mystic Camp in Hunt are still unknown. They were reported missing Friday morning.
Local authorities have declined to give a concrete figure for the possible number of missing people, since many people from outside the region were camping in the area for the July 4th festivities.
The death toll is likely to rise as the hours pass, County Sheriff Larry Leitha Jr. acknowledged to reporters on Sunday."We're going to continue the search until everyone is found," he added.
Further rainfall is expected on Sunday: The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a flood watch until 7:00 p.m. local time (24:00 GMT) and is forecasting additional accumulations of 5 to 10 centimeters of rain, with isolated areas possibly reaching up to 25 centimeters in some places.
Kerrville, Kerr County, city manager Dalton Rice said Saturday that this is the worst flooding in the area since 1987, when ten teenagers died.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Saturday asked the Trump administration to issue a federal disaster declaration and declared a "national day of prayer" for Sunday.
The National Weather Service said more than 12 inches of rain accumulated in just 12 hours on Friday, pushing the Guadalupe River near Hunt to its second-highest level on record at 32 feet.
