The search for those missing in catastrophic Texas floods resumes in some areas after pause for rain

KERRVILLE Texas AP For a second straight day rain forecasts hampered the search Monday for people still missing after deadly floods pummeled Texas this month as administrators made plans to drain reservoirs in the search for casualties While particular crews resumed the search along the Guadalupe River on Monday others held off wary of the forecast Officers also petitioned for patience saying selected have been threatened for their perceived lack of action that could have prevented the deaths at least people in the July storm The first pause in search efforts due to the weather came Sunday in Texas Hill Country where the soil is still primed for enhanced water runoff More than people are unaccounted for in Kerr County alone and more in neighboring areas Trailer after trailer after trailer swept away Texas Hill Country is a popular destination for tourists where campers seek out spots along the river amid the rolling hills Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly stated during a commissioners meeting Monday that it s been tough to determine exactly how numerous tourists were in the area when the flooding occurred We ve heard accounts of trailer after trailer after trailer being swept into the river with families in the them Can t find the trailers Kelly announced It s what we don t know We don t know how multiple of them there are Kelly noted he d been communicated of one trailer that was located utterly covered in gravel feet meters below the surface of the river He revealed sonar crews have been searching the river and local lakes and more are expected to arrive Commissioner Don Harris explained representatives plan to drain two reservoir lakes on the river Who knows how a multitude of out there are thoroughly covered Harris disclosed The Federal Exigency Management Agency s Urban Search and Rescue teams fully resumed operations on Monday announced Obed Frometa FEMA Blue Case Patronage Organization information officer Levi Bizzell a spokesperson for the Ingram Volunteer Fire Department which has been organizing about searchers revealed the department suspended operations for the day on Monday because several inches of rain were expected to fall on Kerr County by late afternoon Everybody here wants to be out there working Bizzell mentioned They literally come in in the morning whether they are tired or not and they just want to get out there and work because they want to find closure for these families Kerr County meanwhile advised all participants to leave the river area and move to higher ground saying only those teams working under the direction of Kerr County Urgency Operations Center Unified Command were permitted in the response zone Playing a blame event In Kerrville about miles kilometers west of Austin local authorities have come under scrutiny over whether residents were adequately warned about the rising water on July Officials in Kerrville went door-to-door to specific homes early Sunday warning that flooding was again attainable and pushed phone alerts to area residents Kerr County commissioners questioned the inhabitants for their patience as the search and cleanup continues Commissioner Rich Paces commented during a meeting Monday morning that he has received death threats They re just playing a blame meeting Paces mentioned During a special Kerrville City Council meeting council member Brenda Hughes also complained of threats to city administrators and staff which she did not detail and called for increased defense at City Hall We re not only dealing with all of the aftermath of this tragic event but now we have to worry about threats that are coming to staff targeted threats that are specific to individual staff members she revealed More rain expected Areas that were hit by the July Fourth floods were forecast to get more rain on Monday afternoon including to inches to centimeters in Kerr County commented Bob Fogarty a meteorologist for the National Weather Operation s Austin San Antonio office It is not going to be good for them Fogarty declared A line of thunderstorms that earlier dumped to inches to centimeters in counties to the west was forecast to hit Kerr County which remained under a flood watch advisory through p m Monday The Guadalupe River remained below flood stage but that could as the storm rolls in Fogarty declared Yet more thunderstorms could hit the area Monday night and early Tuesday We re hopeful that it will not be in the Kerr County area that maybe it ll be a little further west that they would not get as much rain Fogarty announced But we think that there s going to be certain more heavy rain overnight tonight and then hopefully it ll dry out by mid-week Bad weather forces a halt to search efforts Gov Greg Abbott reported Sunday on X that the state had rescued dozens of people in San Saba Lampasas and Schleicher counties and that people evacuated their homes in a handful of others The latest flooding damaged about homes and knocked down untold lengths of cattle fencing noted Ashley Johnson CEO of the Hill Country Locality Action Association a San Saba-based nonprofit Anything you can imagine in a rural society was damaged she disclosed Our blessing is it was daylight and we knew it was coming The weather system brought widespread slow-moving storms and multiple rounds of heavy rain Sunday pushing rivers and streams over their banks The July Fourth flood Just before daybreak on the Fourth of July destructive fast-moving waters rose feet meters on the Guadalupe River washing away homes and vehicles Crews in helicopters boats and drones have been searching for casualties The floods laid waste to the Hill Country region The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins youth camps and campgrounds including Camp Mystic the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley Camp Mystic lost at least campers and counselors The flood was far more severe than the -year event envisioned by the Federal Urgency Management Agency experts commented and moved so promptly in the middle of the night that it caught multiple off guard in a county that lacked a warning system