161 Still Missing as Death Toll Hits 111 in Texas Flooding

From The Texas Tribune

KERRVILLE, TX — Search and rescue teams are looking for 161 missing people in Kerr County, possible victims of the July 4 Hill Country flood whose death toll has climbed to 111 victims.

“We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for,” said Gov. Greg Abbott, who toured the areas impacted by the flooding Tuesday.

The flood is already among the deadliest natural disasters the state has seen, and it is so far the second deadliest flood after the 1921 flood in San Antonio, which killed 215 people. The Hill Country flood death toll is higher than the total number of flood-related deaths recorded across the country last year, along with the year before.

Until Tuesday's update, only 25 people were reported missing across the region. A local government official said Monday it was still “a lot” after days of search and rescue operations. Those searching said they have been dealing with prank calls, false tips and rugged terrain across a roughly 60-mile area.

First responders in the Hill Country continued their search for bodies through Tuesday in the aftermath of the floods as hopes of finding survivors dimmed.

At least seven people died in Travis County, six in Kendall County, three in Burnet County, two in Williamson County and one in Tom Green County, but the vast majority have been in Kerr County.

Abbott said that state House and Senate committees will form as early as later this week to investigate “ways to address this” ahead of the special session set to start on July 21. Abbott did not provide further details into what the committees will be investigating, but responded to a reporter's question of who to point blame to as “the word choice of losers.”

“The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who's to blame,” Abbott said. "The championship teams are the ones that say, ‘Don't worry about it, man, we got this.’”

“The way winners talk is not to point fingers, they talk about solutions. What Texas is all about is solutions,” he later added.