Fears grow
\nKerr County suffered the most damage with at least 95 fatalities including 36 children; death toll rises to 119
\n HUNT
\nThe Texas flash floods death toll rose to 119 on Wednesday, as worries grew that the figure could more than double with over 160 people still reported missing.
\nWorkers in central Texas continued to comb through piles of muddy debris from the July 4 floods as Governor Greg Abbott ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff over the tragedy.
\nOfficials in Kerr County, the epicentre of the flooding, on Wednesday confirmed 161 people were known to be missing in the county.
\nPart of a Hill Country region in central Texas known as \u201cFlash Flood Alley,\u201d Kerr County suffered the most damage, with at least 95 fatalities including 36 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha told reporters.
\nAmong them, counselors and 27 girls at a summer camp who went missing early Friday when the Guadalupe River burst its banks.
\nFive campers and one counselor from Camp Mystic were still missing as of Wednesday, along with another child not associated with the camp, Leitha said.
\nTwo dozen other people have been confirmed dead elsewhere in the state, according to an AFP tally of official reports.
\nMore than 2,000 rescue personnel, police and experts have descended on the flood zone in what Leitha described as an \u201call hands on deck\u201d operation.
\nBen Baker, with the Texas Game Wardens, said search and rescue efforts involving helicopters, drones and dogs were difficult because of the water, mud and debris.
\n\u201cWhen we\u00b4re trying to make these recoveries, these large piles can be very obstructive, and to get in deep into these piles, it\u2019s very hazardous,\u201d Baker said.
\nMeanwhile, questions intensified over whether US President Donald Trump\u00b4s government funding cuts had weakened warning systems, and over the handling of the rescue operation.
\nDuring sometimes tense news conferences Tuesday and Wednesday, officials skirted questions on the speed of the emergency response.
\n\u201cThere\u00b4s going to be an after-action\u201d review of what happened, Sheriff Leitha said, adding \u201cthose questions need to be answered.\u201d
\nBut officials stressed that the immediate focus was on locating the missing and reuniting families.
\n\u2018Door to door\u2019
\nKerrville police officer Jonathan Lamb spoke of heroic rescues by authorities and volunteers who evacuated hundreds of people from their homes or vehicles.
\nOfficers went \u201cdoor to door, waking people up\u201d in Kerr County early Friday and in some cases \u201cpulling them out of windows\u201d of flooding homes and trailers, Lamb told reporters.
\nThe tragedy, \u201cas horrific as it is, could have been so much worse,\u201d he added.
\nThe National Weather Service (NWS) has forecast scattered storms on Wednesday in the Hill Country, including isolated pockets of heavy rain.
\nIn the neighboring state of New Mexico, flash flooding left three people dead Tuesday in Ruidoso, the village website said in a statement, adding the Ruidoso River rose to a record-breaking 20 feet (six meters).
\nBodies in the mud
\nIn the Texas town of Hunt, an AFP team saw recovery workers combing through piles of debris with helicopters flying overhead.
\nJavier Torres, 24, was digging through mud as he searched for his grandmother, after having located the body of his grandfather.
\nHe also discovered the bodies of two children, apparently washed up by the river.
\nTrump is due to visit Texas on Friday with First Lady Melania Trump.
\n\u201cWe brought in a lot of helicopters from all over… They were real pros, and they were responsible for pulling out a lot of people,\u201d Trump said of the response.
\nShel Winkley, a weather expert at the Climate Central research group, blamed the extent of the disaster on geography and exceptional drought, when dry soil absorbs less rainfall.
\n\u201cThis part of Texas, at least in the Kerr County flood specifically, was in an extreme to exceptional drought…. We know that since May, temperatures have been above average,\u201d Winkley told reporters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fears grow Kerr County suffered the most damage with at least 95 fatalities including 36 children; death toll rises to 119 HUNT The Texas flash floods death toll rose to 119 on Wednesday, as worries grew that the figure could more than double with over 160 people still reported missing. Workers in central Texas continued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-489528","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n