Closing summary
It’s almost midnight in central Texas and we’re about to close this live blog. Our full report on the devastating floods can be seen here, and below is an overview of the latest. Thanks for reading.
The risk of life-threatening flooding remained high in central Texas on Monday as more rain was forecast after a deluge that killed at least 82 people, including children at summer camps, while dozens remained missing. Officials said they expected the death toll to rise.
Rescue crews were still searching for the missing, while state governor Greg Abbott said 41 people were unaccounted for across Texas and more could be missing. In the Hill Country area, searchers found the bodies of 68 people, including 28 children, Kerr county sheriff Larry Leitha said.
Ten other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, Associated Press cited local officials as saying.
Abbott said additional stretches of heavy rain lasting into Tuesday could produce more dangerous flooding, especially in places already saturated.
Relatives continued an anxious wait for news of 10 girls and one camp counsellor from the riverside Camp Mystic still unaccounted for after it was overwhelmed by flash flooding from the Guadalupe River, which rose 26ft (8 meters) in 45 minutes on Friday morning. Families were allowed to look around the camp from Sunday morning as nearby searches continued.
The Texas Division of Emergency Management chief said on Sunday he was receiving unconfirmed reports of “an additional wall of water” flowing down some of the creeks in the Guadalupe Rivershed as rain continued to fall on soil in the region already saturated from Friday’s rains. “We’re evacuating parts of the river right now because we are worried about another wall of river coming down in those areas,” Nim Kidd said.
Authorities said about 850 people had been rescued, with more than 400 people involved in the search and rescue operation. Further rain into Sunday hampered search efforts using boats, helicopters and drones. By Sunday morning water levels had fallen significantly.
Authorities faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in an area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made. Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice said there would be a full review of the emergency response.
President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration on Sunday for Kerr county and said he would likely visit on Friday, calling what took place “absolutely horrible”. Asked whether he was still planning to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), he said that was something “we can talk about later, but right now we are busy working”.
Updated
Continuing the list from AP of some of the most deadly floods across the US in the past 25 years:
Superstorm Sandy, 2012: The storm was a late fall freak combination of a hurricane and other storms that struck New York and surrounding areas. Sandy killed 147 people, 72 in the eastern US, according to the National Hurricane Center. More than 110 deaths were attributed to drowning, AccuWeather says.
Mississippi River, 2011: Heavy rainfall in several states, plus a larger-than-normal slow melt, led rivers in the Mississippi River Basin to swell and flood. Flash floods associated with these storms caused 24 deaths across Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee, according to the National Weather Service.
Hurricane Ike, 2008: The storm struck the south-east Texas Gulf Coast and created a storm surge as high as 20 feet (6 metres) in the island city of Galveston. The storm ended up causing more than $29bn in damage and was responsible for more than 100 deaths, many attributed to flooding.
Hurricane Katrina, 2005: The storm is the deadliest flood event in the US in the past 25 years. Katrina crashed into the Gulf Coast and caused devastating flooding when levees failed in New Orleans, where people had to be rescued by boat and helicopter from rooftops. The costliest storm in US history, Katrina caused nearly 1,400 deaths and an estimated $200bn in damages.
Tropical Storm Allison, 2001: The storm caused 41 deaths, mostly attributed to flooding caused by 40 inches (101cm) of rain that fell in Texas and Louisiana, AccuWeather said. Allison remained a threat for days as its remnants lingered after making landfall, causing major flooding in Houston.
Updated
