At least 51 people have died after heavy rain caused flash flooding, with water bursting from the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas.
An unknown number of people remain missing, including 27 girls from Camp Mystic in Kerr County, a Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River.
Xavier Ramirez told NBC News, Sky’s US partner network, that five members of his family – his mother, stepfather, uncle, aunt and cousin – were missing following the floods, while another cousin had been found in a tree 20 miles down river from the campground outside the town of Ingram where they had all been staying.
Mr Ramirez, 23, from Midland in central Texas, said his uncle had been “lost” to the waters but his mother, stepfather and cousin managed to reach higher ground.
One of the trucks the group had taken shelter in was found “in Ingram, against a tree, crushed and flipped, not far from the campground,” he said.
Rescuers have already saved hundreds of people and would work around the clock to find those still unaccounted for, Texas governor Greg Abbott said.
The overflowing water began sweeping into Kerr County and other areas around 4am local time on Friday, killing at least 43 people in the county.
This includes at least 15 children and 28 adults – among those are five children and 12 adults pending identification – Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a news conference.
In nearby Kendall County, one person has died. At least four people were killed in Travis County, while at least two people died in Burnet County. Another person has died in the city of San Angelo in Tom Green County.
But as rescue teams are searching for the missing, Texas officials are facing scrutiny over their preparations and why residents and summer camps for children that are dotted along the river were not alerted sooner or told to evacuate.
AccuWeather said the private forecasting company and the National Weather Service (NWS) sent warnings about potential flash flooding hours before the devastation.
