(NewsNation) — Over 111 have been confirmed dead, and 172 people are still missing, four days after flash floods devastated central Texas, according to Nexstar affiliate KXAN.
Abbott surveyed the damage by helicopter on Tuesday and vowed to keep search crews on the ground until “every missing person is accounted for.”
“We are not leaving until this job is finished,” said Abbott. “The primary job right now is locating everybody who was affected by this flood.”
Searchers last made a live rescue on Friday, the same day early-morning floods inundated the state’s Hill Country, according to a Kerrville Police Department official.
The missing include five children and one counselor from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp. The camp confirmed Monday that it was “grieving the loss” of 27 campers and counselors.
In Kerr County alone, 161 people who are known to be missing. Officials have already recovered 87 bodies from the floods as of 8 a.m. Tuesday — of those, at least 30 were children.
Identification is pending for at least 19 adults and seven children.
The death toll is higher than that of Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Texas in 2017, killing 107 in total.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also declared the affected areas a public health emergency and will be providing resources for those affected.
Texas officials are dealing with “extremely treacherous” terrain as they continue search-and-rescue operations, said Lt. Col. Ben Baker with Texas Parks and Wildlife on Tuesday.
Texas game wardens have searched 26 miles of the river as of Tuesday, Baker said.
Pressed for answers on warnings that went out before the flash floods, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said a timeline of the flood alerts “is not a priority” at the moment and that officials are focused on locating, identifying and notifying families of missing relatives.
Greg Froelick and Brooks Holzhausen helped with recovery efforts at Camp Mystic.
“When we got out here Saturday, we cleared a lot where we were,” Froelick told NewsNation. “But, you’re talking cars wrapped around trees split in half, debris piled up 20 feet high, guardrails twisted up. I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s pure destruction.”
David Basile, a Texas-based Ham radio operator, told NewsNation his amateur radio club was brought in to assist with communications during rescue operations.
“My radio club [Kendall Amateur Radio Society] was asked by the Sheriff’s office to provide backup radio assistance to the rescue operations. During the initial few hours, I was on my radio at home trying to help a friend locate some of the girls missing from the Camp Mystic,” Basile said. “Communication was very sporadic the first day or so as the storm was still ongoing. As time progressed, the comms were better organized. Other members of my radio club are still working with various crews, providing on site comms back to EOC. This frees up officers to provide more specific assistance.”
Basile added “When I got on the radio, I didn’t know how extensive the impact was. So, I knew it was a shot in the dark to try and locate the girls. But I had to try. As time wore on, and more info came out, I became more nervous and anxious. I knew it was in God’s hands, not mine.”
Among those missing is Robert and Joni Brake, whose grandson joined “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” on Monday to discuss the search after flash floods destroyed the cabin where the couple, both in their 60s, were staying.
“We have not heard anything, no updates,” Brake told NewsNation. “We have spent a tireless amount of hours walking throughout the river. I know my dad — still currently — has walked about 18 miles through the river today, searching, but as of now, we have no update and no sign of hope.”