Texas flooding latest: Death toll surpasses 100 as desperate search for Camp Mystic victims continues

Response to the extreme event has been met with major scrutiny after some state and local officials accused the NWS of not providing accurate forecasts. There have also been questions over whether the agency was sufficiently staffed after the Trump administration slashed critical positions around the U.S.

But experts say that warnings issued were about as timely and accurate as could be expected with the data they had.

“The forecasting was good. The warnings were good. It’s always about getting people to receive the message,” Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist based in Wisconsin, told NBC News. “It appears that is one of the biggest contributors — that last mile.”

More details in our full story.

Residents of Kerr County, Texas, and other areas around the Guadalupe River, are picking up the pieces following deadly flooding that has killed at least 95 people since last week.

Search and rescue operations were still underway on Monday as authorities scoured the area for dozens of others who remain missing amid the resulting debris and floodwaters.

Authorities would not give an official tally of those still unaccounted for, saying operations were ongoing and that they have received a number of fake reports.

Residents of Kerr County, Texas, and other areas around the Guadalupe River, are picking up the pieces following deadly flooding that has killed at least 95 people since last week.

Search and rescue operations were still underway on Monday as authorities scoured the area for dozens of others who remain missing amid the resulting debris and floodwaters.

So, how can you aid flood victims? Here are some ways to help…

Flash floods in Texas killed more than 100 people over the Fourth of July holiday weekend and left others still missing, including girls attending a summer camp.

The devastation along the Guadalupe River, outside of San Antonio, has drawn a massive search effort as officials face questions over their preparedness and the speed of their initial actions.

In Kerr County, home to youth camps in the Texas Hill Country, searchers have found the bodies of 84 people, including 28 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said Monday afternoon. Fatalities in nearby counties brought the total number of deaths as of Monday afternoon to at least 104.

Ten girls and a counselor were still unaccounted for at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river.

The floods grew to their worst at the midpoint of a long holiday weekend when many people were asleep.

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. Friday’s flash floods started with a particularly bad storm that dropped most of its 12 inches (30cm) of rain in the dark early morning hours.

After a flood watch notice midday Thursday, the National Weather Service office issued an urgent warning around 4am that raised the potential of catastrophic damage and a severe threat to human life.

By at least 5.20am, some in the Kerrville City area say water levels were getting alarmingly high. The massive rain flowing down hills sent rushing water into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise 26ft in just 45 minutes.

Death toll is expected to rise and the number of missing is uncertain.

Amid questions about whether emergency systems could’ve done more to warn residents of central Texas about last week’s flood, one state lawmaker says he regrets voting against an emergency preparedness bill earlier this year.

The legislation, House Bill 13, would have established a statewide plan to improve Texas’s disaster alert systems, as well as provided grants to buy new communications equipment and installing infrastructure like radio towers.

“I can tell you in hindsight, watching what it takes to deal with a disaster like this, my vote would probably be different now,” Representative Wes Virdell told Texas Tribune.

City officials in Kerrville are warning residents not to use their drones until the search and rescue operations in the area are complete, after a collision with a drone in restricted airspace temporarily grounded an emergency helicopter flight.

“The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing, and a critical piece of response equipment is now out of service until further notice. This was entirely preventable,” the city said in a statement on Facebook.

“When you fly a drone in restricted areas, you’re not just breaking the law — you’re putting first responders, emergency crews, and the public at serious risk,” the statement continued.

A group of 11 are still missing from Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp hit hard by the central Texas floods last week.

That includes Katherine Ferruzzo, 19, a counselor at the camp and an incoming student at the University of Texas.

“Katherine has a fierce and loving spirit, and we have no doubt she did all she could to save the lives of the girls in her cabin,” her family told The New York Times.

Scrutiny is mounting over whether officials did enough to alert the public before deadly floods hit central Texas last week.

Joe Herring, Jr., the mayor of hard-hit Kerrville, told CNN he never got a flood notification or an individual warning from government forecasters before the disaster struck.

The first time he learned the extent of the threat was early Friday morning, when the city’s emergency manager called him to say a park had been flooded, Herring told CNN.

“It all happened upriver at the worst possible place. And I think everyone in Kerrville, everyone in Kerr County, wishes to God we had some way to warn them. To warn those people. I’ve lost two friends. We loved them and they’re gone,” he said. “You know they’re gone. Everyone here, if we could’ve warned them, we would have done so. And we didn’t even have a warning. We did not know.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety was one of numerous agencies who sent personnel to central Texas to assist with recovery efforts after devastating floods late last week killed over 100 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is among the world leaders who have offered prayers and condolences after the devastating floods in central Texas.

“My wife Sara and I and all of Israel are praying for the Great State of Texas,” the US ally wrote on X. “Israel knows disaster—we’ve lived through war, fire, and flood. Dear friends, we stand with you!”

Netanyahu is slated to dine with President Trump in Washington on Monday.

Bel Trew had this preview of what’s at stake in the meeting.