Texas flood death toll climbs past 100

KERRVILLE Texas The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas over the July Fourth weekend surpassed on Monday as search-and-rescue teams continued to wade into swollen rivers and use heavy equipment to untangle trees as part of the massive search for missing people Executives overseeing the search for flood casualties declared they will wait to address questions about weather warnings and why particular summer camps did not evacuate ahead of the flooding that killed at least The functionaries spoke only hours after the operators of Camp Mystic a century-old all-girls Christian summer camp in the Texas Hill Country declared that they lost campers and counselors to the floodwaters Kerr County administrators noted Monday campers and one counselor have still not been ascertained Searchers have located the bodies of people including children in the county home to Camp Mystic and several other summer camps bureaucrats disclosed With additional rain on the way more flooding still threatened saturated parts of central Texas Government stated the death toll was sure to rise The raging flash floods among the nation s worst in decades slammed into camps and homes along the edge of the Guadalupe River before daybreak Friday pulling sleeping people out of their cabins tents and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating tree trunks and cars Specific survivors were exposed clinging to trees Piles of twisted trees sprinkled with mattresses refrigerators and coolers littered the riverbanks Monday The debris included reminders of what drew so various to the campgrounds and cabins in the Hill Country a volleyball canoes and a family portrait Nineteen deaths were revealed in Travis Burnet Kendall Tom Green and Williamson counties local officers revealed Among those validated dead were -year-old sisters from Dallas who were at Camp Mystic and a former soccer coach and his wife who were staying at a riverfront home Their daughters were still missing Bureaucrats vowed that one of the next attempts would be inspecting whether enough warnings were issued and why several camps did not evacuate or move to higher ground in a place long vulnerable to flooding that several local residents refer to as flash flood alley That will include a review of how weather warnings were sent out and received One of the challenges is that various camps and cabins are in places with poor cellphone operation Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice disclosed We definitely want to dive in and look at all those things he stated We re looking forward to doing that once we can get the search and rescue complete Specific camps were aware of the dangers and monitoring the weather At least one moved several hundred campers to higher ground before the floods Sen Ted Cruz a Texas Republican noted latest leadership spending cuts to the Federal Urgency Management Agency and the National Weather Facility did not delay any warnings There s a time to have political fights there s a time to disagree This is not that time Cruz mentioned There will be a time to find out what could been done differently My hope is in time we learn selected lessons to implement the next time there is a flood The weather institution first advised of expected flooding on Thursday and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies a rare step that alerts the citizens to imminent danger Personnel and elected executives have mentioned they did not expect such an intense downpour the equivalent of months of rain Various residents disclosed they never received any warnings President Donald Trump who signed a major mishap declaration for Kerr County and plans to visit the area noted Sunday that he does not plan to rehire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year This was a thing that happened in seconds Nobody expected it the president disclosed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt explained local and federal weather services provided sufficient warnings That was an act of God It s not the administration s fault that the flood hit when it did but there were early and consistent warnings Leavitt declared Search-and-rescue crews at one staging area disclosed Monday that more than participants had been directed to Kerr County The twin -year-old sisters identified Monday Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence from Dallas were among the casualties killed by the flooding at Camp Mystic The girls had just finished second grade their parents commented Hanna and Rebecca brought so much satisfaction to us to their big sister Harper and to so a great number of others John and Lacy Lawrence declared in a announcement We will find avenues to keep that enjoyment and to continue to spread it for them But we are devastated that the bond we shared with them and that they shared with each other is now frozen in time David Lawrence the girls grandfather and former publisher of the Miami Herald revealed it has been an unimaginable time for all of us He commented the girls gave their family including their sister pleasure They and that gratification can never be forgotten he noted in a message This undated photo provided by John Lawrence on Monday July shows twin sisters Hanna Lawrence left and Rebecca Lawrence right who were two the casualties killed by the flooding at Camp Mystic in central Texas on Friday July John Lawrence via AP