Texas Floods: Dozens of Children Dead, Others Missing... Death Toll Worsens
The search for survivors continues, but the death toll in Texas is rising after violent flooding. On the evening of Sunday, July 6, U.S. authorities announced they had found nearly 80 people, including 28 children, who died in flooding caused by torrential rains that hit the southern United States on Friday. A number that is likely to "rise," warned Texas Deputy Governor Dan Patrick on Fox News. Kerr County alone, the county hardest hit by the floods, has reported 68 deaths, "40 adults and 28 children," Sheriff Larry Lethia announced at a press conference.
Many people have been reported missing since the rising waters and violent flooding in Texas on Friday, July 4. Among them are several children who were attending a Christian summer camp for 750 girls on the banks of the Guadalupe River. Another 11 children and a counselor are still being sought as of Monday, compared to 27 in recent days, the sheriff said. Authorities have not indicated whether the decrease in the number of missing people is due to the discovery of bodies or survivors. The deputy governor of the State of Texas indicated on Friday that the number of missing children is uncertain: "We know there are some who are missing. But how many […] we are not sure of the number."
The floods were sudden and devastating. On Friday, July 4, torrential rains caused the Guadalupe River to rise: in just three-quarters of an hour, the equivalent of a third of the county's average annual flow fell. The American river rose 8 meters in about 45 minutes, reports France Info . Rob Kelly, the head of local authorities in Kerr County, also spoke on Friday to emphasize the sudden nature of the flooding in a region that is accustomed to this type of phenomenon. However, the warning signs of such a meteorological event were not observed upstream: "We had no reason to believe that it was going to be anything like what happened here," explained Rob Kelly. Yet, climate change has caused an intensification of violent weather events such as floods and droughts.
BREAKING: At least 6 dead after flash flooding in central Texas - local officials pic.twitter.com/SOOI8ZCsxc At the summer camp where the children and counselors were staying, the waters eventually receded, revealing a landscape of devastation, with dozens of stranded cars, some stuck in trees, and vegetation uprooted, AFP journalists observed.
In total, approximately 500 rescuers and 14 helicopters are still mobilized, according to the newspaper Libération . The Texas National Guard and the Coast Guard have also been deployed as reinforcements. "We will continue the search until all the missing are accounted for," said Texas Emergency Management Officer Nim Kidd. Air, ground, and water teams are being mobilized to search the Guadalupe River for survivors and bodies.
Alongside the search, the US government has been mobilizing. Donald Trump dispatched his Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, to the area and announced that he had "signed a disaster declaration for Kerr County" and promised to provide additional federal resources to Texas.
Several days after the violent floods in Texas, Donald Trump announced that he would "probably" visit the area on Friday, July 11. "This is a disaster the likes of which we haven't seen in 100 years, and it's simply atrocious to see what's happening," he told reporters from New Jersey. At the same time, the American president rejected any link between budget cuts to the National Weather Service and the heavy toll. The man is indeed heavily criticized for these cuts, which limited the number of employees in the weather service, which did not warn of flood risks early enough, according to Texas residents.
L'Internaute
