At Least 82 Dead in Texas Flash Floods as Families of Those Missing Wait and Hope

The search for those swept away by punishing flash floods in Central Texas over the holiday weekend took on new urgency Sunday, as the death toll climbed to 82 and nearly a dozen girls from a private summer camp remained missing.

- Collin Eaton & Ginger Adams Otis

Rescuers combing the swollen banks of the Guadalupe River were holding out hope that survivors might still be found, but bad weather interrupted some ground and air operations.

The National Weather Service said heavy rainfall and slow-moving thunderstorms Sunday could create flash floods in the already saturated areas of Texas Hill Country, including hard-hit Kerrville, Texas.

Flash-flood alerts and warnings to move to higher ground hit residents in central Texas communities including Ingram in Kerr County and New Braunfels, just northeast of San Antonio, late Sunday.

Thunderstorms and heavy rain poured over portions of the I-35 corridor in Central Texas, the National Weather Service said, and the agency extended a flood watch across parts of Hill Country through 10 p.m. local time.

Rescue crews working in a different location around the Guadalupe River were temporarily pulled back as a safety precaution when water rose there as well, authorities said.

The majority of the 82 fatalities thus far were recorded along Guadalupe River basin in Kerr County.

Of the 68 dead in Kerr County, 40 were adults and 28 were children, according to the Kerr County Sheriff's Office.

An unknown number of people remained missing, including 10 girls and a counselor from Camp Mystic, a summer camp on the Guadalupe River.

Another 14 fatalities were recorded in other flood-hit counties.

As many as 41 people were known to be missing statewide, Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday.

That included a Burnet County volunteer fire chief carried away by turbulent water, officials said.

The governor urged central Texans to be "extraordinarily cautious" on roads and alert to evacuation warnings for the next 24 to 48 hours because of flash flood risks.