Desperate search for missing girls as nearly 80 dead in Texas floods

Rescuers in Texas raced against time on Sunday (Jul 6) to find dozens of missing people, including children, swept away by flash floods that killed at least 78, as forecasters warned of new deluges.

At least 40 adults and 28 children were killed in the worst-hit Kerr County, Sheriff Larry Leitha told reporters.

State officials said at least ten more people were killed by torrential rainfall and ensuing flash floods in nearby areas.

"You will see the death toll rise today," warned Texas public safety chief Freeman Martin at a press conference.

"Across the state, in all the areas affected by flooding, there are 41 known missing," Texas Governor Greg Abbott said.

Local Texans joined forces with disaster officials on the ground and in helicopters to search for the missing, including 11 girls and a counselor from a riverside Christian summer camp where some 750 people had been staying when disaster struck.

In a terrifying display of nature's power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins in Camp Mystic as girls slept overnight Friday, washing away some of them and leaving a scene of devastation.

Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings ended up caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said heavy rain likely to cause more flooding was falling Sunday.

He told Fox News stories of heroics, such as a camp counselor smashing a window so girls in their pajamas could swim out and walk through neck-high water.

"These little girls, they swam for about 10 or 15 minutes. Can you imagine, in the darkness and the rushing waters and trees coming by you and rocks come on you? And then they get to a spot on the land," Patrick said.

Officials had earlier said 27 girls were missing from the camp. Sheriff Leitha said this had gone down to ten girls and one camp counselor, but did not explain the sharp drop in the number.

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Sunday that slow-moving thunderstorms threatened more flash floods over the saturated ground of central Texas.

The flooding began on Friday, the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend, as months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, much of it coming overnight as people slept.

The Guadalupe surged some 26 feet (8m), more than a two-story building, in just 45 minutes.

'Washed away'

President Donald Trump, at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, signed a major disaster declaration that freed up resources for the state.

Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual. 

The region of south and central Texas where the weekend's deluge occurred is known colloquially as "Flash Flood Alley."

Scientists say that in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense.

People from elsewhere in Texas converged on Kerr County to help look for the missing. 

Texans also started flying personal drones to help look but local officials urged them to stop, saying it was a danger for rescue aircraft.

One of the searches focused on four young women who were staying in a house that was washed away by the river. Adam Durda and his wife Amber, both 45, drove three hours to chip in.

"There was a group of 20-year-olds that were in a house that had gotten washed away," Durda told AFP. "That's who the family requested help for, but of course, we're looking for anybody."

Justin Morales, 36, was part of a search team that found three bodies, including that of a Camp Mystic girl caught up in a tree.

"We're happy to give a family closure and hopefully we can keep looking and find some of the... you know, whoever," he told AFP.

"Help give some of those families closure. That's why we're out here."