Rescue teams incentral Texas scoured storm-ravaged terrainMonday for signs of life as the death toll from last week's catastrophic flooding rose to at least 90 and bouts of heavy rain battered hard-hit areas. Among the dead wereat least 27 children and counselors from Camp Mystic, a beloved all-girls summer camp in Kerr County, where the worst of the flooding broke out. At least 10 girls and one counselor remain missing, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a news conference Monday. "Texas is grieving right now. The pain, the shock of what has transpired these last few days has broken the heart of our state," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Cruz said he was heartbroken by the loss of children at Camp Mystic, describing it as "every parent's nightmare." There were about 700 children at the camp when relentless rain caused the nearby Guadalupe River to surge over 26 feet in less than an hour on Friday, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. Photos taken at the scene show a building, where some of the children slept, with broken windows and a blown-out wall. Among the mud-covered debris were pink blankets and stuffed animals. As rescuers resumed searches for missing people by air, land and water, officials warned those in central Texas that there remains a danger of "life-threatening flooding." Multiple flash flood warnings were active across the Hill Country as storms drenched the region, inundating roads and waterways. Developments: ∎ Potent, slow moving storms over central Texas have begun to trigger flooding in hard-hit parts of the state. Forecasters with the National Weather Service have issued flash flood warnings and say several more inches were expected to fall through the rest of the day. ∎ Authorities have rescued over 850 people since the devastating flooding began last week, Cruz said at a news conference. ∎ PresidentDonald Trumptold reporters on Sunday that he plans to visit Texas later this week. Trump has signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County, unlocking federal funding for first responders and offeringFEMA assistance to victims of the flash floods. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the National Weather Service's performance during the Texas floods and lashed out at Democrats who have suggested Trump's recent cuts to the agency prevented floods victims from getting alerts sooner. "Unfortunately, in the wake of this once-in-a-generation natural disaster, we have seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Sen. Chuck Schumer and some members of the media," Leavitt said in a July 7 briefing with reporters. "Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning." Leavitt pointed to "timely and precise forecasts and warnings" from the weather service on July 3 and on the morning of July 4, when she said the agency gave preliminary lead times of more than three hours before flash-flooding conditions occurred. "The National Weather Service did its job," Leavitt said. "They gave out timely flash flood alerts. There were record-breaking lead times in the leadup to this catastrophe. There is ongoing flood monitoring. And these offices were staffed. In fact, one of the offices was actually overstaffed."– Joey Garrison The Senate's top Democrat on Monday asked a government watchdog to investigate whether cuts at the National Weather Service affected the forecasting agency's response to catastrophic and deadly flooding in Central Texas. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, asked the Department of Commerce's acting inspector general Monday to probe whether staffing vacancies at the weather service's San Antonio office contributed to "delays, gaps or diminished accuracy" in forecasting the flooding. He asked the watchdog to scrutinize the office's communications with Kerr County officials. The weather service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Schumer's letter. It defended its forecasting and emergency management before, during and after the flood, in a statement Sunday. – Reuters The catastrophic flooding in the Texas Hill Countrytook place in a region that's known as "flash flood alley," a geographic area that also includes many of the state's major metropolitan areas, such as San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and Waco. This region is among the nation's most prone to flash flooding, known for its propensity for fast and furious flooding when extreme rain falls, Alan Gerard, CEO of weather consulting company Balanced Weather said. As bountiful, moist air from the Gulf moves over the steep hills, it can dump heavy rain. Experts said the devastating flash flooding was not a surprise, based on historical and prehistorical data. "The flooding was certainly extreme but it should not have been historically unexpected," saidRoger Pielke, Jr.,a political scientist who has written about disaster preparedness and climate change. "The documented record of extreme flooding in 'flash flood alley' goes back several centuries."Read more here. – Doyle Rice A director of a Texas summer camp for girls who was known as the "heart and soul" of the program. Two sisters found together after beingswept away by floodwaters. A beloved teacher from the Houston metropolitan area. A local high school soccer coach and his wife. They are among the dozens who have died in the destructive flooding that tore across central Texas late last week and over the weekend. State and local officials said search and rescue efforts were still underway, including for 10 children and a counselor from Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' camp at the edge of the Guadalupe River. The many victims include summer camp directors, teachers, grandparents, parents and children.Read about them here. Answering questions about the emergency warnings that came too late for many, Cruz said a review of what happened will come after those still missing are found and recovered. Cruz said the National Weather Service issued emergency warnings just after 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. and noted that many were asleep when the alerts were sent out. He said reviews of the timeline will focus on whether there are tools that would enable earlier detection of major floods – a challenge when floodwaters rise as quickly as they did on Friday. "If we can go back and do it again, we would evacuate particularly those in the most vulnerable areas – the young children in the cabins closest to the water ... the people in RVs," Cruz said. "Next time there is a flood, I hope we have in place processes to remove especially the most vulnerable from harm's way," he said. "But that will be a process that will take careful examination of what happened." Below are the latest numbers of reported fatalities from state and local officials across central Texas. Kerr County – 75 deaths Travis County – 7 deaths Burnet County – 3 deaths Kendall County – 2 deaths Williamson County - 2 deaths Tom Green County – 1 death Larry Leitha, the Kerr County sheriff, said at a news conference that authorities in the county recovered the bodies of 75 people, including 27 children. Of those fatal victims, Leitha said 15 adults and nine children have yet to be identified. A day earlier, the death toll in the county was 68, according to the sheriff's office. Statewide, at least 90 people have been killed in the flooding. Across the rain-soaked Texas Hill Country, thunderstorms have triggered additional flooding, inundating roadways and trapping motorists in their vehicles, officials said. The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings, which indicate that flooding is either ongoing or imminent, across multiple central Texas counties, including Burnet, Bell, Coryell and Lampasas. Federal forecasters say 2 to 5 inches of rain has fallen and several more inches are expected. "Multiple roads are becoming impassable due to flood waters, and there have been several reports of vehicles stranded on flooded roadways," the weather service said in a flood warning set to expire at 10:15 a.m. local time. "Flash flooding is already occurring." While rescue crews are searching for missing people, authorities are also scrambling to identify the bodies of victims recovered in the aftermath of the Independence Day floods. In a statement Sunday evening, the Kerr County Sheriff's Office said 18 adults and 10 children are at a funeral home and still need to be identified. Texas Rangers are collecting DNA from family members and deceased victims and flying them to the University of North Texas near Dallas for analysis, said Col. Freeman Martin of the Texas Department of Public Safety. "We will have answers with rapid DNA in hours – not days – to get some closure and information back to these families," Martin said. When Matthew Crowder got to work at Texas Paintball around 4 a.m. on July 5, the floodwaters had already begun to rise. He noticed the water was encircling a nearby home, so he called 911 and later began to scream. Inside, Chrissy Eliashar was awoken by her son and quickly sprang into action, gathering her three children, a family friend and her four dogs and headed for the porch. There, she watched helplessly as her car floated away. They tried to go through the backyard, but it had "already become a lake." Crowder, who was clinging to a nearby chain-link fence, yelled for the family to make their way to him. The family waded into the knee-deep water and Eliashar's young daughter fell and lost her shoe. They managed to reach a nearby pickup truck, where Crowder pulled them to safety. "I'm so grateful that he screamed and was able to wake us up and be that guide to safety for us," Eliashar told USA TODAY. "He really saved us."Read more here. – N'dea Yancey-Bragg In the wake of the deadly Texas floods, a variety of aid groups, nonprofits and other organizations are accepting donations to help victims and assist in the recovery effort. The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country started aKerr County Flood Relief Fund, which will provide aid to vetted organizations in Hunt, Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point and other areas. Crowdfunding websiteGoFundMehas an updated page forverified fundraisersconnected to flood victims and their families. Other organizations accepting donations includeWorld Central Kitchenandthe Salvation Army, which is distributing supplies and has set up a mobile kitchen in the disaster area. How you can help:How to assist flood victims – James Powel For the meteorologists and hydrologists tracking the weather patterns that led to the deadly floods across Texas Hill Country, the most urgent advisories weren't deployed until it was almost too late, according to interviews and advisories. Forecasters said they pushed out warnings as fast as they got the data. But the hilly terrain and the trickiness of predicting flash floods made forecasting and alerting communities along the Guadalupe River in real time particularly challenging. "This is a problem that we are constantly trying to work on: how to better communicate," Greg Waller, a hydrologist at the National Weather Service's West Gulf River Forecast Center in Fort Worth, told USA TODAY. "We can issue the best forecast in the world, but if it's not put in the hands of the individuals so they can make the best decision, that forecast has little value."Read more here. – Rick Jervis The National Weather Service extended a flood watch through 7 p.m. local time as downpours were expected through Monday, including in hard-hit parts of the state. Forecasters said it's difficult to pinpoint exact locations where the heaviest rain will fall, noting that an uptick in intensity is possible over the Hill Country, where the worst of deadly floods have occurred. Widespread rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches were expected, forecasters said, warning that some areas could receive 10 inches of rain. "The thunderstorms should become more organized and move westward possibly across the flood-ravaged portion of Texas during the day today," the weather service said Monday. Trump said he expects to visit Texas later this week after catastrophic flooding caused extensive death and destruction in the state. "Probably on Friday," Trump told reporters on Sunday when asked about visiting the state. "We wanted to leave a little time. I would've done it today, but we'd just be in their way." Earlier on Sunday, Trump signed a major disaster declaration for hard-hit Kerr County, unlocking federal funding for first responders on the ground and offering FEMA assistance to victims of the flooding. −Zac Anderson This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Texas flooding live updates: Death toll rises; 10 campers missing
