Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick of the county has stated that the Texas flash floods had killed at least 59 persons.
Deadly floods struck hundreds just outside the Texan town of Kerrville on Friday as America celebrated the Fourth of July.
Rescue crews are still searching for survivors in Kerr County, Texas, where flash flooding has swept through.
As Americans celebrated Independence Day, the floods washed away their vacation cabins, cars, and mobile homes.In just a few hours, a month’s worth of intense rain fell, causing the Guadalupe River to rise to a hazardous 26 feet. As a result, numerous counties declared a state of emergency.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry L. Leitha stated during a new conference on Sunday, July 6, that of the 59 people killed, 38 were adults and 21 were children.
Meanwhile, Patrick added to Fox News, “We’re now up to 59. We expect that to go higher sadly.”
As rescue crews continue their search, the numbers are anticipated to fluctuate and rise over the next few days.
Speaking at the news conference on Sunday, Kerrville Mayor Don Herring Junio gave the public an update on the hunt.
“Our goal is to rescue those in peril and find those who are lost,” he stated. “Our community, our state and the world have been responding.”
Although Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly previously stated that a catastrophe of this kind was unanticipated, Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice has provided an explanation for the rapid rise of the Guadalupe River.
He told the press, “When you look at the headwaters of the Guadalupe… there’s a north and a south fork. Since 1987, under normal conditions, if you can call it that, you’ll hit water in one of those areas, and those two forks will converge into the Guadalupe, which comes through the city of Kerrville.”
Rice continued: “This rain event sat on top of that and dumped more rain than what was forecasted on both of those forks.”
“When we got the report, it was about 7 feet or so on the south fork, and within a matter of minutes it was up to 29 feet, and all of that converged at Guadalupe.”
750 girls were attending Camp Mystic south of Kerrville, which was without electricity, water, or WiFi because of the floods. Those that went missing were among them.
