(Hunt, Texas) The assessment of devastating floods in Texas, which left a hundred dead, could still get worse, with at least 161 people still missing on Wednesday.
In Kerr County, “161 people are considered missing,” the governor of this state, Greg Abbott on Tuesday. A figure based on the number of people reported as disappeared by friends, relatives and neighbors.
Seven people are also not found in the County of Travis, according to local authorities.
“This list could most likely lie down,” added the governor, while the hope of finding survivors is now tiny despite the research of the rescue that continues.
In total, 109 dead -linked dead were identified in the center of the state, said the governor.
The county of Kerr is the hardest hit, with 94 dead, including 30 children.
Photo Ronaldo Schemidt, Agence France-Presse Archives
In Kerr County, “161 people are considered missing,” the governor of this state, Greg Abbott on Tuesday.
Among these victims are 27 children and monitors of the Christian holiday camp for camp girls, on the banks of the Guadalupe river, which hosted some 750 people.
Five campers and a camp instructor were still missing Tuesday evening, according to the governor, who said that another child, who was not in this holiday center, was not found.
Helicopters, drones and cynophile teams have been mobilized again, despite trying conditions.
In Hunt, epicenter of the floods, Javier Torres, 24, dug in the dry mud of the river in search of his grandmother, whose house was located near the Guadalupe. The young man discovered the body of his grandfather as well as that of two children.
In the neighboring state of new-mexic, torrential rains caused a flood on Tuesday in the mountainous station of Ruidoso, causing the death of at least three people, including two young children, according to the municipality.
Criticism
President Donald Trump confirmed that he would go to Texas on Friday, accompanied by his wife Melania.
“We have sent many helicopters everywhere, (…) We brought them quickly. Texas also had good, the answer was incredible, “said the American president.
Photo Ashley Landis, Associated Press
Trees and debris cover the ground near the Guadalupe river after the floods in Kerrville, Texas.
“As much as I know, the last rescue (…) was carried out on Friday,” the flooding day, said Jonathan Lamb, from Kerrville police.
Some 850 people were saved from the waters, according to the authorities.
On Monday, the White House castigated the criticisms that the budget cuts in the national weather services infringed the reliability of forecasts and alerts.
The American weather services had issued “forecasts and alerts that are both precise and in due time,” said his spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
An alert was launched shortly after 1 a.m., but many residents slept or had cut their phone.
“Two extremes”
The sudden floods were caused by torrential rains very early Friday, national day in the United States, which increased the waters of the Guadalupe river of eight meters in just 45 minutes.
It suddenly fell nearly 300 millimeters/rain, a third of the average annual precipitation.
Sudden floods, caused by torrential rains that the dry soil cannot absorb, are not uncommon.
But according to the scientific community, climate change caused by human activity has made meteorological events more frequent and more intense such as floods or droughts.
“It is an area of Texas which undergoes the two extremes of the spectrum of climate change. (…) Dreams become more extreme “and” when the rain arrives, it causes this heavier precipitation, with an increased probability of sunglasses, “said Shel Winkley, meteorologist.
