Key Points
- Over 80 people are confirmed dead after flash floods swept through central Texas.
- Ten girls and a camp counsellor remain missing near the Guadalupe River.
- Donald Trump is facing criticism over weather agency job cuts amid questions on flood warning failures.
Rescue teams are grappling with more rain as the search continues for dozens of people still missing after flash floods hit central Texas, with the death toll climbing past 80.
The United States search teams waded through mud-laden riverbanks and flew over the flood-stricken landscape on the fourth day of the search for survivors after last week's flash floods.
The Guadalupe River that runs through Kerrville was transformed by pre-dawn torrential downpours into a raging torrent in less than an hour on Saturday AEST.
The dead there included 27 campers and counsellors at the Camp Mystic summer camp, a nearly century-old Christian girls' retreat on the banks of the Guadalupe River, the camp said in a statement.
Richard Eastland, 70, the co-owner and director of Camp Mystic, died trying to save the children at his camp during the flood, multiple media outlets, including the Austin American-Statesman reported.
"Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy," the camp said in a statement.
Ten girls and a camp counsellor are still missing, officials said.
US senator Ted Cruz said: "Texas is grieving right now."
"The pain, the shock of what has transpired these past few days has broken the heart of our state," he said.
Freeman Martin, director of the Texas public safety department, predicted the death toll would rise further as flood waters receded and the search gained momentum.
Authorities also warned continued rainfall, even if lighter than last week's deluge, could unleash additional flash floods because the landscape was so saturated.
The National Weather Service said heavy rains and thunderstorms could cause more flooding across the area.
State emergency management officials had warned last week, ahead of the 4 July holiday, that parts of central Texas faced the possibility of heavy showers and flash floods.
Ginger Turner (left) and her daughter, Hailey, pray during church services held at the Hunt Baptist Church. Their small town, situated on the bank of the Guadalupe River, was severely damaged by recent flooding. Source: AP / Rodolfo Gonzalez
Search and rescue operations are ongoing around the clock, with hundreds of emergency personnel on the ground facing a multitude of challenges.
"It's hot, there's mud, they're moving debris, there's snakes," Martin told reporters on the weekend.
Officials said on the weekend more than 850 people had been rescued, some clinging to trees, after a sudden storm dumped up to 380mm of rain across the region, about 140km north-west of San Antonio.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was activated on the weekend and was deploying resources to Texas after US President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration, the homeland security department said.
US coast guard helicopters and planes were aiding search and rescue efforts.
Onlookers survey damage along the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area. Source: AAP / Eric Gay/AP
He has previously outlined plans to scale back the federal government's role in responding to natural disasters, leaving states to shoulder more of the burden themselves.
Some experts questioned whether the Trump administration's cuts to the federal workforce, including those to the agency that oversees the National Weather Service, led to a failure by officials to accurately predict the severity of the floods and issue timely warnings ahead of the storm.
Trump's administration has overseen thousands of job cuts at the National Weather Service's parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), leaving many weather offices understaffed, according to former NOAA director Rick Spinrad.
