Portugal Colonial - Search for missing girls as Texas flood death toll rises to 32

"There's 32 deceased, 18 of those are adults and 14 are children. Five of the adults remain unidentified and three children remain unidentified," said Kerr Country Sheriff Larry Leitha.

Leitha earlier put the number of evacuated people at 850, including eight reported injured.

Addressing a press conference, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he was expanding a state disaster declaration and was requesting additional federal resources from US President Donald Trump.

Texas Department of Emergency Management chief Nim Kidd said air, ground and water-based crews were scouring the length of the Guadalupe River for survivors and the bodies of the dead.

"We will continue the search until all those who are missing are found," he said.

The flooding began Friday as months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, causing the Guadalupe River to rise by 26 feet (eight meters) in 45 minutes.

The National Weather Service warned that more rain was forecast, and that "excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations."

In Kerrville on Saturday, the usually calm Guadalupe was flowing fast, its murky waters filled with debris.

"The water reached the top of the trees. About 10 meters or so," said local resident Gerardo Martinez, 61. "Cars, whole houses were going down the river."

Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual.

But scientists say that in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events like floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense.

- Devastation at Camp Mystic -

On Saturday, Sheriff Leitha said 27 children from the Camp Mystic Christian summer camp in the flooded Kerr County were still missing. Around 750 girls were enrolled at the camp.

US media reported that four of the missing girls were dead, citing their families.

The camp, located along the banks of the Guadalupe, was a picture of disarray, with blankets, mattresses, teddy bears and other belongings scattered across buildings.

The windows of camp cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.

Michael, who only gave AFP his first name, was searching the camp for his eight-year-old daughter.

"I was in Austin and drove down yesterday morning, once we heard about it," he said.

The Heart O' The Hills summer camp, located about a mile away from Camp Mystic, confirmed on Saturday that its director Jane Ragsdale was among the dead.

- 'Catastrophic' -

Kerrville city official Dalton Rice said rescuers were facing "very difficult" conditions.

"We did start boots on the ground operations about 8:00 am (1300 GMT) this morning," he said, warning residents not to launch their own searches.

Rice added that it was not known how many people may have been visiting the popular camping area, and declined to give an overall figure for how many people were missing.

State and local officials warned against residents traveling to the area, which includes campgrounds dotted along the river, with dozens of roads impassable.

Videos on social media showed houses and trees swept away by the flash flood caused by heavy overnight rain of up to 12 inches -- one-third of Kerr County's average annual rainfall.

Soila Reyna, 55, a Kerrville resident who works at a local church helping people who lost their belongings, witnessed the devastation unfold.

"Nothing like as catastrophic as this, where it involved children, people and just the loss of people's houses and you know, it's just crazy," she added.

With rescuers fanning out across the region, Joe Herring, the Kerrville mayor, urged the community to come together.

"People need to know today will be a hard day. It will be a hard day," he said, his voice breaking.

burs-aha/mlm

J.V.Jacinto--PC