(Bloomberg) – Crews in Central Texas are digging massive piles of debris, inverted vehicles and broken houses on the sixth day, because searching continues to victims of lightning floods, which killed more than 100 people during the fourth of July.
At least 160 people are still missing in Kerr Country, the most difficult area of Texas Hill Country. Officials claim that no one was found alive from July 4, when the Flood arrived until hours before dawn, tearing with a 100 kilometer section of the Guadalupe river full of holidaymakers. The water was flooded with summer summer camps, including Camp Mystic, where at least 27 children and advisors were killed. Sheriff Larry Leitha said that 2,100 people were involved in the reaction and the number of victims in Kerry County reached 95.
The authorities said they concentrated their efforts in the areas around the river, which are suffocated by debris. The crews use an excavator and shear loaders to comb piles of trees, houses and debris in search of victims.
More harmful stories have emerged from the survivors, while the requirements grew for fuller billing, why more people did not receive risks warning, although the National Meteorological Service sent urgent warnings. The authorities resisted discussion on the specifics of the local reaction in the flood management and stated that it was necessary to focus on recovery efforts.
Rena Bailey, 77, could be saved by her custom to watch online storm maps when the nasty weather arrives. It was up in the early morning of July 4. Her home – where she lived since 1990 – is usually near the river banks and is raised about six feet above ground.
“I went out and noticed that the water on the driveway was like a high foot and I thought, hmm, that’s strange, I’ve never seen it before.” Bailey remembered in an interview. “Suddenly it jumped up. And I saw a hunting store and I heard it was starting to crumble.
She said she woke up her husband and watched the gasoline tanks around the gasoline. When the water climbed into their house, she said that her husband helped her out of the window and climbed to the higher ground.
She said she received a number of weather warnings about the risk of floods, but did not act on them because the announcements are quite routine and the house had previously weathed many floods.
“I just want us to get a better idea of what’s going on,” she said.
The pressure for detailed accounting of what happened is assembly. They ask questions where the weather forecasts for the first time advised local officials about the potential for catastrophic floods and what these officials did to spread the report.
Irene and Lucas Brake are still looking for Lucas’s parents, Joni Kay and Robert, who disappeared during the flood. Irene and Lucas remained in the RV park in Kerrville, while his parents rented a nearby cabin for a holiday.
Irene said she went out at the beginning of July 4 to find water to her waist. She and Lucas managed to achieve security, but later learned that the cabin where Joni Kay and Robert remained remained in the flood. Since then, no one has heard from them.
Lucas spent days walking on the Guadalupe River by searching for any sign. “We’re trying to keep our heads high,” Irene said in an interview.
This area had the history of deadly demolugs and was known locally as a “lightning flood aisle”. He lacked public alarms or warning sirens, partly due to the costs needed to set them up. Weather alerts were sent to mobile phones in this area, but the service is spotted in a predominantly rural area.
Overall, at least 109 people have been confirmed throughout the state and the authorities claim that the toll will be expected to increase. Another storm around the capital city of Austin 5.
The survivors told the rapporteurs that they were awakened by barking dogs, looking for a flashing rescue lights or a pounding storm that kept them in an hour and turning the night. Some stepped out of bed to cold water on the floor or were neighbors who pounded the door.
At the Kerrville Community Services press conference, Jonathan Lamb told Rescue Stories, including a patrol sergeant who used his speaker to awaken the population before spending 13 hours through the flood waters with others to pull people out of vehicles and off the roofs. In another case, the man used a garden hose as a safety line to save someone from fast moving current.
“I know this tragedy – how terrible it was, could be much worse,” Lamb said.
Local officials pushed back on the proposals that could have acted earlier to warn residents and visitors. It is said that rural terrain, which includes low water gradients and single -lane bridges, could leave evacuated stuck on the road and in danger of being swept.
“There are rural areas that can experience an extended response time, an area where the cellular service is spotted, where there are single -lane bridges and low water transitions,” Greg Abbott said. “Evacuation is sometimes not the safest choice; sometimes it is a safer choice on site. Hill country is not universal for all sizes.”
He promised a thorough investigation into what happened to “identify areas to improve our response protocols”. Abbott also ordered Texas flags to be reduced to half employees on Wednesday in memory of the victims.
Abbott also stated that lawmakers will deal with flood warnings at a special session of the legislature in Texas since July 21 and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said that the state would find a way to pay for the alarms of natural disasters in this area. Accuweather estimated that the disaster could cause $ 18 to $ 22 billion in economic losses and property damage across the country.
Texas is particularly susceptible to natural disasters, partly because it is so large. In the last decade, Texas has been in the 10 best countries for economic losses related to the weather. From 2015 to 2024, 654 people died as a direct weather result. Texas represents 31% of all damage caused by extreme weather in the US in the last 10 years.
Brandon Rothwell, 56, voluntarily voluntarily in Hunt in Hunt this week and helped cook food for victims and crews to search and rescue the outdoor grill. He grew up in hunting and was in Kerrville when the floods hit, but far enough from the river to be safe.
“This storm was like a mini hurricane,” he said. “The river is like a rock quarry.
He said the area is resistant and predicts that most of it will be rebuilt into six months. Neighbors are already working to help each other, he said.
“Everyone joined with love,” he said. “We’re Texans. That’s what we do.”
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(Tagstotranslate) Lightning Floods (T) Texas Hill Country
