US: Texas flood death toll hits above 131 as fresh storms approach

The number of lives lost in recent Texas flooding has risen to 131, with officials warning of another round of intense rainfall set to hit central parts of the state.

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch through Tuesday morning, predicting up to six inches of rain from the Rio Grande to San Antonio and Austin.

This alert includes Kerr County and other Hill Country regions still recovering from the July 4 flash flood that tore through Kerrville and a girls’ summer camp in the nearby town of Hunt.

Residents living near the river and emergency crews combing the banks were advised to move to higher ground. The ongoing search for victims was also paused Sunday due to renewed flood risks.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Monday that storm-related deaths had reached 131 across the state since July 4, with the majority in and around Kerrville — up from 120 reported on Friday.

He added that 97 people were still missing in the greater Kerrville area, though that figure was down from over 160 earlier in the week.

Roughly a third of the victims in Kerr County were children, most of them killed at Camp Mystic when floodwaters swept through the campgrounds before dawn on July 4.

Authorities have not rescued anyone alive since the day of the disaster, when more than 12 inches of rain fell in less than an hour in an area known as “flash flood alley.”

Abbott said state legislators would examine the handling of the crisis during a special session later this month, looking at how prepared the state was and how emergency responses were carried out.

The unusually high death toll has sparked questions about the absence of flash-flood sirens in Kerr County and gaps in National Weather Service staffing, which were attributed to federal cutbacks under the Trump administration.

(Reuters)

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