At least 78 people, including 28 children, have died in catastrophic floods in Texas as rescue workers search for girls missing from a summer camp.
Donald Trump described the disaster as a “horrible thing” and said he would probably visit the area on Friday.
“It’s a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible. So we say, God bless all of the people that have gone through so much, and God bless, God bless the state of Texas,” he told reporters as he left New Jersey.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said 41 people had still not been found and more could be missing.
Among the most devastating impacts of the flooding occurred at Camp Mystic summer camp, a Christian girls camp where 10 campers and one counsellor were still missing.
“It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through,” said Abbott.
Authorities have warned the death toll will rise (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)The flooding occurred after the nearby Guadalupe River broke its banks after torrential rain fell in the central Texas area on Friday.
“You will see the death toll rise today and tomorrow,” Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said on Sunday.
Officials said on Saturday that more than 850 people had been rescued, including some clinging to trees, after a sudden storm dumped up to 38cm of rain across the region.
President Trump issued a major disaster declaration on Sunday, activating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is deploying resources to first responders.
US Coast Guard helicopters and planes have been aiding search and rescue efforts.
Some experts have questioned whether cuts to the federal workforce by the Trump administration led to failures to accurately predict the severity of the flood (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)Trump has previously outlined plans to scale back the federal government’s role in responding to natural disasters, leaving states to shoulder more of the burden themselves.
Some experts questioned whether cuts to the federal workforce by the Trump administration, including to the agency that oversees the National Weather Service, led to a failure by officials to accurately predict the severity of the floods and issue appropriate warnings ahead of the storm.
Trump’s administration has overseen thousands of job cuts from the National Weather Service’s parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving many weather offices understaffed, former NOAA director Rick Spinrad said.
When asked if federal government cuts hobbled the disaster response, Trump pointed the finger at the previous administration.
“That water situation, that all is, and that was really the Biden setup,” he said referencing his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.
“But I wouldn’t blame Biden for it, either. I would just say this is 100-year catastrophe.”
Furnitures lie scattered inside a cabin at Camp Mystic (Photo: Sergio Flores/Reuters)Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees the agencies, said a “moderate” flood watch issued on Thursday by the National Weather Service had not accurately predicted the extreme rainfall and said the Trump administration was working to upgrade the system.
The Texas Hill Country in the central part of the state is naturally prone to flash flooding due to the dry dirt-packed areas where the soil lets rain skid along the surface of the landscape instead of soaking it up.
Survivors have described the floods as a “pitch black wall of death” and said they received no emergency warnings.
Various officials have referred to it as a “100-year-flood,” meaning that the water levels were highly unlikely based on the historical record.
While it is hard to connect specific storms to a warming planet so soon after they occur, meteorologists say that a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture and allow severe storms to dump even more rain.
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