[upd]The search continues with unabated intensity to locate 11 children who remain missing after the deadly floods that hit Texas, where 67 people have lost their lives so far, including 21 children.
At the same time, US President Donald Trump declared a major disaster area in Kerr County, Texas, explaining that this is being done to ensure that relief teams have the resources they need. These families are experiencing an incredible tragedy, with many dead and many more missing, he wrote in a post.
It is worth noting that the missing minors are girls from a Christian camp, which is located next to the Guadalupe River, the level of which rose more than six meters in less than two hours during the night of July 4th.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott described the disaster as one of the worst he has ever seen, saying the camp had been"horribly devastated" by the disaster. He said rescue teams working around the clock would do everything they could to find every girl who was in the shelter.
More than 850 people have been rescued in the wider area so far. We have identified 43 dead in Kerr County, including 28 adults and 15 children, County Sheriff Larry Leatha said during a press conference.
Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem said that US President Donald Trump wants to modernize the technologies available to weather forecasting and risk prevention services, at a time when the Republican administration is receiving heavy criticism for significantly reducing their funding and eliminating hundreds of jobs.
Flash floods, caused by torrential rains that the soil due to drought cannot absorb, are not uncommon. However, according to the scientific community, human-induced climate change has made weather events — such as floods, droughts and heat waves — more frequent and intense.
In mid-June, 13 people died due to flooding in San Antonio, near the area hit by Friday's torrential rains.