Abbott extends disaster declaration to include additional counties

Kerr County officials said at a news conference Saturday afternoon that at least 43 people have died and 27 girls from Camp Mystic are still missing following the Fourth of July flooding along the Guadalupe River.  According to Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha, of those who have died, 15 are children, 12 are adults and five children have not been identified.

Governor Greg Abbott said, “We will be relentless in going after and being sure we locate every single person who’s been a victim of this flooding event.”  Abbott expanded his disaster declaration to include Bexar, Burnet, Guadalupe, Travis, Caldwell and Williamson counties.  Abbott had previously signed a disaster declaration for Bandera, Coke, Comal, Concho, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Reeves, San Saba and Tom Green.

Rescuers continue using helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims.  The majority of rescues include stranded people in trees and victims from camps, which were isolated by washed-out roads.  More than 850 people have been rescued so far, according to Kerr County officials.

Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said Saturday that 1,331 additional state personnel are responding along with local responders and more than 900 state assets including:

125 personnel from TDEM

172 from Urban Search and Rescue Team at Texas Task Force 1

160 from Texas Department of Public Safety

More than 250 from the Texas Department of Transportation

170 from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Military Department 136

115 from Texas A&M Forest Service

Nearly 190 for health and medical purposes

Those who want to report a missing person can either call 830-258-1111 or email floodrecovery@kerr.tx.us

“The number one priority now is people,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Saturday.  “Making sure we’re finding people as fast as possible and returning them to their families.”