SAN ANTONIO — Search crews spread through the Texas Hill Country on Wednesday morning with a grim mission, seeking signs of the scores of people missing from devastating floods that struck the region nearly a week ago, killing at least 119.

Even as the search continued, officials from Kerr County and its largest city, Kerrville, gave an extensive account at a news conference of their actions on Friday morning, as a wall of water swept down the Guadalupe River and washed out campgrounds, summer camps and trailer parks.

“Emergency services throughout Kerr County promptly responded to the recent emergency as the situation unfolded,” the county sheriff, Larry Leitha, said. “If improvements need to be made, improvements will be made.”

Officials have faced mounting questions over their preparations and response — inquiries that Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas referred to as the “words of losers” when asked Tuesday about investigations into what went wrong. He compared disaster response to football, saying only losing teams focused on their failures.

Abbott Says 173 Remain Missing Statewide

Abbott revealed late Tuesday that at least 173 people remained missing statewide— the first time officials have identified just how widespread the human toll might eventually be. Those unaccounted for include 161 people in Kerr County, where the worst of the flooding occurred and where the death toll rose to 95 on Wednesday morning.

It’s unclear how the list of the missing was assembled, and state officials did not answer inquiries about it. Even so, the figure cited by the governor, which far outstripped the number of missing people local officials had previously acknowledged, suggested that the death toll could more than double.

“The primary job right now continues to be locating everybody who was affected by this flood,” Abbott said at a news conference, later adding: “We will not stop until we identify, recover every single body.”

The death toll in Kerr County included at least 36 children, making the floods among the deadliest U.S. disasters for children in several decades. The young victims include many from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls, where 27 campers and staff members were killed. The bodies of five campers and a 19-year-old counselor had not yet been recovered as of Tuesday evening.

As the extent of the floods’ devastation became clearer, Republican officials have continued to deflect responsibility for the disaster, while questions have grown about the role of federal forecaster vacancies and a lack of state and local spending on flood control and warning systems.

Asked if the lack of an alert system along the river contributed to the rising death toll, Leitha and other officials struck a defiant tone during the news conference, telling reporters that answers would come after an assessment is completed.

“Those are important questions. We will answer those questions. I wish y’all would bear with me in that,” Leitha said.

Earlier Wednesday, Abbott ordered Texas flags to be lowered half-staff to honor the victims until Monday. “Texas stands united in mourning and in our resolve to support those who strive to heal and recover,” he said in a statement.

In addition to the deaths in Kerr County, at least seven people died in Travis County, eight in Kendall County, five in Burnet County, three in Williamson County and one in Tom Green County. Those lost include a beloved teacher, child and adult campers, camp directors and a counselor.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Edgar Sandoval/Loren Elliott
c. 2025 The New York Times Company