Horror floods swept across Texas on the weekend, with search and rescue operations still ongoing in the area.
Search efforts have entered the fifth day today (Tuesday July 8) as the death toll officially hit over 100 people.
At least 84 of the victims - 56 adults and 28 children - died in Kerr county, the worst-affected area, along with 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River.
They said in a statement: “This tragedy has devastated us and our entire community. Our hearts are broken alongside the families that are enduring this tragedy, and we share their hope and prayers.”
An elite taskforce has been put together by the US federal Emergency Management Agency which has deployed to Texas to help with the ongoing searches.
The unit, made up of specialist officers, has been deployed for up to 14 days, to focus on water rescue operations and capabilities for detecting human remains.
The 50-member team, which includes four human-remains-detection canines and their handlers, as well as an additional search team manager, departed from Columbia, Missouri, to Kerr county, Texas, last night.
They said: “The team will support search and rescue operations in response to the historic flooding affecting the region.”
But what has happened and how did the floods start? Here is all we know:
When did the floods start?
In the early hours of Friday, heavy rain fell and floods swept across Texas Hill Country. The Guadalupe River rose 26 feet within 45 minutes, according to state officials, and broke banks - devastating the area.
At least 82 people have died in the floods, with 59 of the confirmed deaths occurring in Kerr County.
What happened in the lead up?
Forecasters predicted heavy rainfall, and plans were put in place to help the area in advance - although ultimately, it was not enough.
On the Wednesday before rainfall, the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) put in place state emergency response resources, saying there were "increased threats of flooding in parts of West and Central Texas."
Water rescue teams, along with other types of rescue equipment, were moved to the area just in case with the predictions of high levels of rainfall.
But those in the area say that, despite these plans, the weather was more extreme than any foresaw.
Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said: “Listen, everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service….It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw.”
On Friday in the early hours it became clear the rainfall, which started at around 1am, that the weather was more extreme than first thought.
At 1:26 a.m., the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center said "flash flooding likely overnight with significant impacts possible”.
As much as 10 inches - 25cm - of heavy rain fell in just a few hours causing the banks of the Guadalupe River to burst at around 4am local time.
By 5:15 a.m. the National Weather Service realised things were worse than first thought and posted on X that there was a flash flood emergency.
The Austin/San Antonio office posted on its X account about the emergency at 5:23 a.m.
They wrote: “This type of alert is exceedingly rare and used when there is a severe threat to human life and catastrophic damage.”
What is going on now?
Search and rescue teams, as well as local residents, are continuing to do all they can to locate missing people and help those affected and hurt in the floods.
The specialist teams will also now join to try and help as many people as possible.
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas said: "I'd just [ask] everybody like, pause, take a breath for the recriminations and the Monday morning quarterbacking.
“Let's focus on finding those who can be found, then we can always assess what we need to do later, going forward."
What is the weather like in Texas now?
Rescue efforts are ongoing and it seems the worst of the weather is now behind them.
The National Weather Service originally kept flood warnings in place across central Texas, fearing more heavy rain would fall.
The warnings, which included rainfall of between two and four inches, rising up to 10 inches in some locations, were left in place until 7pm local time (1am UK time) on Tuesday for San Antonio, Austin and the devastated Kerr County.
What has Trump said?
Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration yesterday for Kerr County, which grants the area access to financial support and manpower.
He called the flash flooding in Texas "absolutely horrible" and vowed to ensure first responders "immediately have the resources they need".
He said Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, would continue to be in Texas, and said he would also go along to visit the area himself, but saying he would probably go later in the week when things have calmed.
He said: "We want to leave a little time. I would have done it today, but we would just be in their way, probably Friday."
