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As floodwaters recede in Central Texas, 27 people have been confirmed dead

Authorities confirmed that 27 people including nine children were dead following flash floods across central Texas. Rescuers are still searching for survivors, including the dozens of girls who remain missing from their summer camp.

As floodwaters receded around the Guadalupe River in Kerr County in Texas, approximately 85 miles (137 kilometers) northwest of San Antonio, 800 people were evacuated.

The majority of the missing people are young girls. Near the camp, river levels rose rapidly by 29 feet.

After thunderstorms dumped up to a foot of rainfall early Friday, the U.S. National Weather Service announced that the flash flooding emergency had largely been lifted for Kerr County. This was the epicenter of this flooding.

The NWS Weather Prediction Center, College Park, Maryland, has issued a flood watch for the San Antonio and Austin, Texas region until 7 pm on Saturday.

Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that the federal government was working with local and state officials to combat the floods. Melania and I pray for the families affected by this terrible tragedy. "Our Brave First Responders have been on the scene doing what they do best," said he on social media.

Dalton Rice, Kerrville's city manager, told reporters that extreme flooding occurred before dawn, with little or no notice, preventing authorities from issuing evacuation orders in advance as the Guadalupe River quickly rose above major flood level.

Rice stated that "this happened very rapidly, in a very brief period of time, which could not have been predicted even by radar." "This occurred in less than two hours."

Early Thursday, state emergency management officials warned that heavy rains in west and central Texas and flash flooding were possible "in the next few days" citing National Weather Service predictions ahead of the holiday.

W. Nim Kidd of the Texas Division of Emergency Management said at a Friday night news conference that the weather forecasts "didn't predict the amount of rainfall we saw".

According to the National Weather Service summary of the storm in 1987, the weekend disaster is reminiscent of a devastating flood that occurred along the Guadalupe River almost 40 years earlier. A bus and van trying to leave a church camp were flooded and ten teenagers drowned while trying to get out. It said that hundreds of people had been evacuated.

(source: Reuters)