Texas floods toll climbs to 67 with 12 children among dead

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The death toll from the devastating floods that drowned Texas increased to 67, including 12 children on Sunday, while the search for a group of missing girls from a summer camp extends to its third day, as communities are caught as a result of heavy rainfall.

Kerr County has reported the most casualties at the Texas Hill country and the center of the destructive flood center. Sheriff Larry Litha said that the death toll in his county alone has increased to 59, including 21 young victims.

The most important efforts to search for a summer camp near the Gwadal River are pending. Eleven girls and one adviser are still countless after the river burst after the US Independence Day holiday on Friday, after the continuous rains in Central Texas.

A Travis County official reported four deaths and 13 people are still missing. Kendall County has also confirmed the deaths, while the Burnet County Sheriff’s office reported two deaths.

A woman was found dead in her drowning car in San Angelo, Tom Green County, the police chief said.

Litha said 18 adults and four children are still pending in Kerr County. He did not say whether the 22 people were included in the death count of 59.

Officials said Saturday that more than 8585 miles northwest of San Antonio (140 km) northwest, about 85 85 miles (140 km) northwest, after a sudden storm, more than 850 people were rescued, some of whom were shaken by trees. It was unclear how many people were still missing in the area.

“Everyone is hurting society,” Litha told reporters.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency was activated on Sunday, and President Donald Trump issued a major announcement of the devastation after President Donald Trump deployed resources for the first responders, the Homeland Security Department said in a statement.

The Coast Guard of the United States is providing helicopters and aircraft search and rescue efforts, the DHS said.

Some experts questioned whether the Trump administration failed to cut the federal manpower, including the agency that oversees the national seasonal services, as a result of the officials failing to predict the severity of the floods and issue appropriate warnings before the storm.

Former NOAAA Director Rick Spinrad said the Trump administration has oversee the reduction of thousands of jobs from the National Weather Service’s Basic Agency, the national maritime and environmental administration, which has reduced many seasons offices.

He said he did not know if the staff had deducted it due to a lack of advance warning for Texas’s extreme floods, but that they would inevitably reduce the agency’s ability to provide accurate and timely predictions.

Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noim, who oversees NOAA, said that a “moderate” flood watch released Thursday through national weather services did not properly predicted the rain, saying the Trump administration was working to upgrade the system.

The White House did not respond to a comment.

Texas -based Democratic Congress member Jokin Castro told CNN’s State of the Union that fewer personnel in the seasonal service could be dangerous.

Castro said, “When you have a flood flood, there is a danger that if you do not have personnel … to do this analysis, predicts the best way, it can lead to a tragedy.”

More raining

More rain was expected in the area on Sunday. The National Weather Service released a flood watch for Kerr County by 1pm local time.

The devastation spread rapidly on Friday morning when heavy forecasts exceeded the river waters to 29 feet (9 meters).

Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott told a press conference on Saturday that he had asked Trump to sign a disaster declaration, which would unlock federal assistance to the victims. Nim said that Trump would respect the request.

Earlier, Trump has outlined plans to expand the federal government’s role in responding to natural disasters, and forced the states to put themselves more burden.

The 11 missing girls and advisers were from the camp, Sufyan Summer camp, which was the almost century -old Christian Girls’ camp, which had 700 girls in the floods at the time of the flood.

A day after the catastrophe, the camp was a scene of catastrophe. Within a cabin, the mud lines indicate how high the floor was at least six feet (1.83 meters). The bed frames, donkeys and personal luggage stood with mud.

In some buildings the windows were broken, one wall was lost.