The number of deaths for the floods of Texas It amounted to 67 this Sunday, including 21 minors. Meanwhile, the authorities continue with the search for missing girls from a camp.
Larry Leitha, Sheriff of Kerr County, in Texas Hill Country, epicenter of the floods, said that 11 girls and a monitor are still missing from a camp near the Guadalupe River, which overflowed after the torrential rains fallen in the central area of Texas on Friday, the United States Independence Day holiday.
Leitha said there are 18 adults and four children pending identification. He did not say if those 22 people are included in the 59 deaths count.
Floods in Texas leaves at least 67 dead and dozens of missing
The authorities reported yesterday that More than 850 people were rescuedsome of them clinging to the trees, after a sudden storm downloaded up to 38 centimeters of rain in the Texas Hill Country area, about 140 kilometers northwest of San Antonio. It was not clear how many people were still missing in the area. “Everyone in the community is suffering,” Leitha told reporters.
Some experts questioned whether the federal labor force cuts by the Government, including the agency that supervises the National Meteorological Service, made officials precisely predict the seriousness of the floods and issue adequate warnings before the storm.
Donald Trump’s cuts, a problem for rescue operation
President Donald Trump and his administration supervised thousands of job cuts of the National Meteorological Service Matrix Agency, the Oceanic and Atmospheric National Administration (NOAA), leaving many offices without sufficient personnel, according to former director Rick Spinrad.
While he said he does not know if these personnel cuts influenced the prior notice of Texas floods, he said that they will inevitably reduce the agency’s ability to offer precise and timely forecasts.
The Secretary of National Security, Kristi Noem, which supervises the NOAA, said that a “moderate” flood alert issued Thursday by the National Meteorological Service had not precisely predicted the extreme rains, adding that the government is working to update the system.
Floods in Texas: status and shock
The catastrophe quickly triggered Friday morning, when the rains, more intense than expected, rapidly raised the waters of the river to 9 meters high.
Texas Governor, Republican Greg Abbott, told a press conference on Saturday that he asked Trump to sign a disaster statement, which would unlock federal aid for those affected. Noem indicated that Trump will attend to that request.
The 11 missing girls and the monitor belonged to Camp Mystic, a Christian camp of almost a century old, which had 700 resident girls at the time of flooding.
The camp was a devastation scenario. Inside a cabin, the mud lines that indicated the height to which the water had risen were at least 1.83 meters from the ground. There were frames of beds, mattresses and personal objects covered with mud. Some buildings had broken windows, one was missing a wall.
Missing camp girls
Texas Vice Governor Dan Patrick, said he was coordinating with the emergency team The search for girls who appeared as missing Among the more than 700 children who were in a summer camp. At first they had been 23.
“I am asking the people of Texas to make a prayer would be this afternoon. A prayer of knees, so that we find these young girls,” said Patrick.
Camp Mysticthe Christian summer camp for girls, girls informed the parents of the girls have suffered catastrophic floods. The camp has two facilities along the river in Hunt, Texas
Source: Ambito
