(Hunt) The results of the devastating floods in Texas, which left a hundred dead, could considerably increase after the announcement that at least 161 people are still missing on Tuesday.
“Just in Kerr County, 161 people are considered to be missing,” the governor of this state in the United States, Greg Abbott, said at a press conference.
Photo Rodolfo Gonzalez, Associated Press archives
The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott
He said this figure was based on the number of people reported as disappeared by friends, relatives and neighbors.
“This list could most likely lie down,” added the governor, while the rescue teams are continuing their research to find survivors.
A total of 109 deaths linked to the floods were identified in the center of the state, said the governor.
Kerr’s counted is the hardest hit, with 87 dead, including 30 children.
Photo Eli Hartman, Associated Press
Volunteers on horseback participate in research near the Guadalupe river in Ingram, Texas, after the floods.
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 were mobilized again on Tuesday, despite trying conditions.
“Penetrating deep into the clusters (debris) is very dangerous,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Ben Baker, of the Texas Chass Gardes, at a press conference.
Photo Eli Hartman, Associated Press
Rescuers are looking for bodies near the Christian vacation camp for Camp Mystic girls, where 27 children perched by the flood.
He also underlined the impact of the disaster on the mental of rescuers: “It is tragic to witness the loss of a human life. But seeing that it is a child who has lost his life is extremely difficult, ”he said.
“Tired”
“I know that people are starting to be tired, but they receive reinforcements, and volunteers arise” on the spot, assured the Minister of Internal Security, Kristi Noem, during the Council of Ministers in Washington.
Read “Mortal Floods in Texas:” One of the worst scenarios “”
President Donald Trump confirmed on this occasion that he would go to the scene 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.
The hopes of finding survivors are now tiny, five days after the sudden flood that struck this tourist area, in the middle of a prolonged weekend.
“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.
In the locality of Hunt, epicenter of the disaster, research teams searched the mud all day and the rubble, while helicopters hired the area.
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 meteorological services (NWS) 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 on Friday, which raised the waters of the Guadalupe of eight meters in just 45 minutes.
It suddenly fell nearly 300 millimeters/rain, a third of the average annual precipitation.
Photo Jay Janner, Associated Press
A waterproofing carrying rescuers on the Guadalupe river passes near a completely demolished van during sudden floods.
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, droughts and heat waves.
“It is an area of Texas which undergoes the two extremes of the spectrum of climate change (…) The droughts become more extreme” and “when the rain arrives, it causes this heavier precipitation, with an increased probability of sudden floods”, told AFP Shel Winkley, meteorologist and climate specialist.
