At least 43 people died after severe flooding hit the southern US state of Texas, authorities confirmed on Saturday, with several children still missing from a summer camp in Kerr County, north-west of San Antonio.
State-wide, at least 50 people died in relation to the floods that hit the state on Friday morning, US media reported.
“We have recovered 43 deceased individuals in Kerr County,” Sheriff Larry Leitha said in a press briefing on Saturday evening.
“Among these, who are deceased, we have 28 adults and 15 children,” the sheriff said, adding that the remains of 17 people were pending identification.
Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said 27 children from a summer camp were still missing.
“We’ve been rescuing people out of these camps by the hundreds all day,” Rice said in the press briefing.
The Christian summer camp for girls, located near the Guadalupe River, was accommodating more than 750 children when the floods struck after heavy rainfall early on Friday.
The river rose by almost 8 metres in a very short span of time in the early hours of the morning, said Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.
US media reported at least seven more died in relation to the floods in the state.
Four people died in Travis County and three died in Burnet County in central Texas, several US media outlets reported citing local authorities.
Another person died in Kendall County, however it was initially unclear whether this death was related to the storms.
The full extent of the catastrophe remained unclear more than 36 hours after the flooding began.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he has issued a disaster declaration due to the severe flooding, calling it “an extraordinary catastrophe.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said he and his wife Melania were “praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy.”
“The Trump Administration is working with State and Local Officials on the ground in Texas in response to the tragic flooding,” he wrote.