TEXAS FLOOD DISASTER: DEATH TOLL SURPASSES 100 AS MORE BODIES RECOVERED

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By: Sefiu Ajape

The death toll from the devastating floods in Texas climbed to over 100 on Monday, as rescue teams pressed on with the difficult search for those swept away by powerful floodwaters.

Among the victims were at least 27 girls and camp counselors who were at a youth summer camp along a river when the disaster struck during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

With rain continuing to fall on already saturated ground, forecasters warned of further flooding, hampering recovery operations that involve helicopters, boats, search dogs, and around 1,750 personnel.

“There is still a threat of heavy rain with the potential to cause flooding,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement Monday, with the number of victims expected to rise still.

President Donald Trump confirmed he planned to visit Texas on Friday, as the White House slammed critics claiming his cuts to weather agencies had weakened warning systems.

“Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday.

She said the National Weather Service, which The New York Times reported had several key roles in Texas unfilled before the floods, issued “timely and precise forecasts and warnings.”

Trump has described the floods that struck in the early hours of Friday as a “100-year catastrophe” that “nobody expected.”

The president, who previously said disaster relief should be handled at the state level, has signed a major disaster declaration, activating fresh federal funds and freeing up resources.

‘Tragedy’

Kerr County, through which the Guadalupe River runs, was the hardest hit, with at least 84 people killed including 28 children, according to the local sheriff’s office.

The toll includes 27 who had been staying at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian camp that was housing about 750 people when the floodwaters struck.

Camps are a beloved tradition in the long US summer holidays, with children often staying in woods, parks and other rural areas.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz described them as a chance to make “lifetime friends — and then suddenly it turns to tragedy.”

But some residents were questioning the absence of more robust flood-warning systems in this region of south and central Texas — where such deluges are so frequent that it is known colloquially as “Flash Flood Alley.”

Experts stress the NWS sent out timely forecasts, and climate scientist Daniel Swain pinned the problem on a failure of “warning dissemination.”

San Antonio mother Nicole Wilson — who almost sent her daughters to Camp Mystic — launched a petition on Change.org urging Governor Greg Abbott to approve a modern warning network.

“Five minutes of that siren going off could have saved every single one of those children,” she told AFP.

At a candlelight vigil in San Antonio on Monday night, Texans gathered to pray for the victims of the floods and voice lingering fears.

“I was pretty shocked on the gravity of the situation and how big it was, and I wouldn’t necessarily expect that our rivers would rise so quickly,” said Rebeca Gutierrez, 29.

“Hopefully there’s preventative efforts happening in similar areas to make sure nothing to this degree happens.”

Two-story building

Volunteers and officers from the neighborhood security patrol help to rescue residents in the upscale River Oaks neighborhood after it was inundated with flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas.

In a terrifying display of nature’s power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins as girls at the camp slept.

Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings were caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.

Volunteers were helping search through debris from the river, with some motivated by personal connections to the victims.

“We’re helping the parents of two of the missing children,” Louis Deppe, 62, told AFP. “The last message they got was ‘We’re being washed away,’ and the phone went dead.”