Texas Governor Greg Abbott/ (Photo from Gov. Greg Abbott)
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has confirmed at least 94 fatalities associated with catastrophic flooding in central Texas with at least 161 people are still missing in Kerr County.
Torrential rain of up to 12 inches dropped overnight on July 4, causing the Guadalupe River to surge over 20 feet in under an hour, according to The Guardian.
Among the fatalities and missing are young girls from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp located near Hunt, where at least 27 campers and counselors perished.
According to AP, the number of reported missing grew by roughly three times higher than previously reported following the establishment of a hotline for families to call and report missing loved ones.
Deaths have now been reported across six Texas counties – Kerr, Burnet, Travis, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson. Officials fear the death toll, which currently sits at 110, will continue to rise as more victims are found during the ongoing search and rescue operations.
“To put this into perspective, just in the Kerr and Kendall counties alone, there are far more fatalities than there were in Hurricane Harvey,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. “That’s how catastrophic this is.”
These numbers could rise. Abbott said at least 161 people are known to be missing in Kerr County.
At Tuesday’s news conference, Abbott said, “Know this: We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for. Know this also: There very likely could be more added to that list.”
The Governor added that officials are also gathering information on those who did not register at a camp or a hotel and may have been in the area without many people knowing.
Texas Game Warden Ben Baker shared that crews, using helicopters, drones, K-9 units, swift-water boats, airboats, UTVs, and four-wheel-drive vehicles, have searched at least 26 miles of river with approximately 444 rescues and 30 recoveries.
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