The search for two dozen missing people entered its fifth day on Tuesday after catastrophic flash floods swept through Central Texas last week.
At least 104 people have been killed following torrential downpours that began Thursday after the Guadalupe River burst from its banks on Friday, rising by 20 feet in roughly 95 minutes.
Twenty-seven young girls and staff members were killed at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp situated on the river.
Maps reveal the devastation seen in Kerr County, where authorities revealed 28 children were among the 84 victims in the flood-ravaged region.
In Austin, at least 13 people were also killed in associated flooding, and 15 remain unaccounted for, according to an official tally released by officials Monday.
Authorities said at least seven people were killed in Travis County, six in Kendall County, five in Burnett County, two in Williamson County, one in Tom Green County, and two more in Kendall County.
In Kerr County, first responders were forced to navigate uprooted trees, swept-away buildings, and large piles of debris during their operations. There were also power outages thanks to 40 downed power lines, officials said.
Ten girls from Camp Mystic and one counselor remained missing on Monday evening. The camp reported that the floods had killed 27 campers and staff members.
“That’s every parent’s nightmare,” Texas Senator Ted Cruz told reporters.
Responding to a question about an emergency warning system, Cruz said there had always been a risk of flooding along the river and that everyone would evacuate people if they could go back in time.
“Evacuation is a delicate balance,” said Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice at the same press conference.
“Because if you evacuate too late, you then risk putting buses or cars or vehicles or campers on roads into low-water areas trying to get them out, which then can make it even more challenging. Because these flash floods happen very quickly.”
First responders had been swept off the road while trying to help, he added.
City leadership and local forecasters have been the subject of intense scrutiny regarding emergency response, including the timing of alerts and the dissemination of information from the National Weather Service on Friday morning.
Forecasters had warned about a “particularly dangerous situation,” with between five and 10 inches falling in south-central Kerr County over just three to six hours.
Other meteorologists and former National Weather Service employees have defended the actions of the San Antonio, Austin, and San Angelo offices.
However, officials have repeatedly said there was more rain than had been predicted.
“The original forecast that we received Wednesday from the National Weather Service predicted 3-6 inches of rain in the Concho Valley and 4-8 inches in the Hill Country,” Texas Emergency Management Chief W. Nim Kidd told reporters last week.
“The amount of rain that fell at this specific location was never in any of those forecasts.”
Flood watches and warnings remained in effect throughout the day on Monday near the Rio Grande River.
“There remains a threat of flash flooding from slow-moving heavy rains overnight and through the day on Monday somewhere over the watch area,” the City of Kerrville warned on Facebook.
