HOUSTON, Texas – The catastrophic flash flood in Central Texas has left 47 people dead, including 14 children.
On Saturday afternoon, we heard from Texas leaders, including Governor Greg Abbott, on just how dire the situation is. In 36 hours, Abbott said more than 850 people have been rescued or recovered.
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“This community over the past 24 hours is what I call quintessential Texas. When Texans face a challenge, we come together. We unite,” Abbott said.
Abbott said the ongoing priority is to find every person affected by the flooding, and as of Saturday afternoon, 27 people were still confirmed missing.
“We will be relentless in going after and ensuring that we locate every single person who’s been a victim of this flooding event. We’re not going to stop today or tomorrow. We will stop when the job is completed.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem spoke about President Trump’s response, saying, “President Trump is absolutely heartbroken by what has happened here in Texas and the loss of life is absolutely devastating to him and Melania.” She added, “He is absolutely committed to using all the resources of the federal government to help unify families, rescue all those that we are still missing and return those who maybe we will recover back to their family as soon as possible.”
Local emergency responders, including several Houston-area agencies, have been working closely with state and federal teams to help find the missing people.
“Our state assets and local partners are continuing to search for live victims. Life safety continues to be our number one priority. We will continue the search until all those that are missing are found,” said Nim Kidd, head of the Texas Department of Emergency Management.
Kerr County Judge Kelly addressed the shift from rescue to recovery, stating, “The rescue has gone as well as can be expected. He’s getting time now for the recovery, and that’s going to be a long... Toilsome task for us. And what I would reiterate that I’ve heard others say is as long as we stay together we’ll get this done.”
Kerrville Mayor Herrick asked for public support and prayers: “Rescue those in peril and we will find those who are lost. I continue to ask everyone who sees this day to pray for Kerrville and Kerr County.”
Search efforts continue around the clock, including the use of helicopters equipped with thermal imaging to locate missing individuals.