Fear of Texas flood toll surge

More than 160 still reported missing

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The Texas flash floods death toll rose to 119 on Wednesday, as worries grew that the figure could more than double with over 160 people still reported missing.

Workers in central Texas continued to comb through piles of muddy debris from the July 4 floods as Governor Greg Abbott ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff over the tragedy.

Officials in Kerr County, the epicenter of the flooding, on Wednesday confirmed 161 people were known to be missing in the county.

Part of a Hill Country region in central Texas known as "Flash Flood Alley," Kerr County suffered the most damage, with at least 95 fatalities including 36 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha told reporters.

Among them, counselors and 27 girls at a summer camp who went missing early Friday when the Guadalupe River burst its banks.

Five campers and one counselor from Camp Mystic were still missing as of Wednesday, along with another child not associated with the camp, Leitha said.

Two dozen other people have been confirmed dead elsewhere in the state, according to an AFP tally of official reports.