Texas floods: Death toll rises to 120 as rescue operations start to shift to recovery phase

More than 100 injured and orphaned wild animals were brought to the All Things Wild rehabilitation center in the first three days after the Texas floods, the organization said.

With more than 500 animals now receiving care at the donation-based nonprofit facility in Georgetown, it is asking for donations to help support the afflicted wildlife, ranging from baby to adult birds, raccoons and opossums to turtles.

"The flood animals have stretched our resources thin, since each animal must have a species-specific diet and housing, medicine and medical care," board member Christy Hullum told NBC News.

The Austin Wildlife Rescue said on Facebook it had received more than 200 wild animals since the catastrophic weather event.

“From waterlogged killdeer to washed out baby skunks, we are accepting all wildlife in need,” the post read. The Austin rescue center received a $5,000 donation from Miranda Lamber's MuttNation, according to a Facebook post yesterday.

NBC News’ Priscilla Thompson reports from Kerrville on how the search for the 161 people missing is impeded by the debris left behind in the wake of the catastrophic floods.

Residents of Kerrville say the rapidly rising floodwaters on July Fourth took them by surprise. While phone warnings were sent, many did not hear them. 

The death toll in the New Mexico floods remains at three.

In a news conference today, Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said that “the threat of rain is imminent, and we’re expecting Saturday something similar to what we had Tuesday.”  

Ruidoso Emergency Manager Eric Queller warned, "We are looking at more possible burn scar flooding over the next couple of days."

The number of damaged homes rose from 200 to 400.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said that the federal government has directly reached out and that she believes Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem may visit the state.

As search crews continue to look for victims of the Texas floods, volunteers are helping clear tons of debris left behind at the camps hit the hardest.

A Kerrville police official declined to say whether the department's radio system hindered rescue efforts.

Asked whether police radios' inability to communicate directly with county radios hampered rescue or recovery efforts, Community Services Officer Chief Jonathan Lamb told NBC News, "I don’t have any information to that point."

Lamb then took three more questions and abruptly ended the brief news conference in Kerr County.

The death toll in Kerr County remained at 60 adults and 36 children, officials said at a news conference today. The number of missing also remained unchanged, at 161.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said in a CNN interview that he believed "the question of FEMA's role is one that probably ought to be debated now going forward," and he emphasized the "central role" he has seen the agency play in facilitating state responses to disasters.

"I think that backstop of expertise and personnel and the ability to be on the ground getting resources directly to the American people to help rebuild their lives is important and should be sustained," he said.

Pence, a former governor of Indiana and member of the U.S. House, said: "Our hearts have just been broken by the stories coming out of Texas."

Nancy Callery salvaged the last belongings from her childhood home in Hunt yesterday.

Cynthia Thomas describes the damage and tells NBC News’ Joe Fryer and Savannah Sellers that many people are unlikely to rebuild because of the high cost of flood insurance.

An officer prayed with members of a family yesterday as they picked up items at Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas.

Today, 14 million people remain under flood watches across parts of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and southern New England.

Heavy rain is currently moving through parts of Massachusetts, where over 3 inches of rain have fallen so far, resulting in major roadway flooding in areas such as Mansfield and Norwood.

Later today, the highest risk for flooding will be across saturated areas of central Virginia, central North Carolina and into northern South Carolina. Simultaneously, severe storms are possible today across parts of Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, where hail, strong winds and isolated tornadoes will all be possible.

Today's downpours come a day after flash flooding was reported in parts of Durham, North Carolina, and Atlanta, and days after flash floods killed more than 100 people incentral Texas.

The threat of flash flooding returns to the hardest-hit parts of Texas, roughly 100 miles north of San Antonio, on Saturday.

Following the deadly floods that swept through central Texas, native Texan Brandon Ayers brought his barbecue business, Buddy’s BBQ, and is serving first responders, search and rescue, and others who are still looking for missing people. “No matter what you go through in life, as a state, we all come together,” Ayers said in the town of Hunt, adding that “everybody wants to work together, everybody wants to help each other.”

The devastating Texas flooding that has killed at least 120 people is the first high-profile disaster the Federal Emergency Management Agency has faced during the current Trump administration. But while the loss of life has been catastrophic, former and current FEMA officials told NBC News that the relatively small geographic area affected means it’s not a true test of what the agency, whose full-time staff has been shrunk by a third, is capable of doing in the wake of a disaster.

The real tryout could come later this summer, they say, when there is always the threat that a hurricane could hit several states.

As the agency’s future is debated — Trump has talked about possibly “getting rid of” it — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees it, has tightened her grip.

Noem now requires that all agency spending over $100,000 be personally approved by her, according to current and former FEMA officials. To prevent delays on the ground, on Monday, FEMA officials established a task force to expedite the process of obtaining Noem’s approval, according to two people familiar with that unit.

Read the full article here.

The death toll continues to rise in the devastating Texas floods, with victims being identified. 

Braxton Jarmon, a student at Glenn High School in Leander, died in the floods, his school said in a statement. His sister Felicity is still missing. 

Mary Kate Jacobe, 8, a Camp Mystic camper, was also confirmed dead yesterday. Her family remembered her as “tiny but mighty” and “most certainly our angel on earth.”

Meanwhile, officials are facing increasing scrutiny over how warnings were issued to locals. A special session called for by Gov. Greg Abbott will discuss emergency communication systems, warning sirens and much-needed relief funding. 

Former Kerr County Commissioner Tom Moser described the county’s flood warning system as “simply pretty antiquated” and “marginal at the best” back in 2016. 

“It serves some purposes, but it’s not what we should have,” Moser said, according to a transcript of the May 9, 2016, county commissioners meeting.

“I think the fact that we are probably the highest risk area in the state for flooding, and this is not to say we need to do it,” he said. “The indications are that we could improve it.”

At the time, he suggested having a workshop with the county and the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, noting that “we both have full responsibility for the entire county for this type of system.”

Moser also said he and others viewed Comal County’s system, which included sensors in the river at major crossings that monitored water levels and triggered alarms if they reached a certain level, notifying the appropriate personnel.

Search and rescue teams are using horses and cadaver dogs to locate people still missing in the catastrophic flooding in Texas, as local officials face questions about whether enough was done to warn residents about rising floodwaters.

Heartbreaking details are emerging as crews sift through mountains of debris. One of the first people who attended a site being searched by first responders reported hearing cellphones ringing under the rubble.

Two days before flash floods on the Guadalupe River in Texas killed at least 27 campers and staff members at a Christian girls' summer camp, a state inspector was there to approve camp operations and noted there was a written plan for responding to natural disasters.

What that plan said, however, is unclear. Texas does not approve or retain copies of emergency plans; camps are only required to demonstrate that they have plans in place. Officials at Camp Mystic — still reeling from the deaths of campers, staffers and its director, and from the ongoing search for others — could not be reached for comment on what the plan included or how the camp responded to Friday’s floods.

Read the full story here.

Search and rescue operations along the Guadalupe River are shifting to a recovery phase, meaning hope of locating survivors has dwindled, said Dr. Rajeev Fernando, chief medical officer of Heal-Corp, a nonprofit organization providing emergency aid in Kerr County.

“The first 72 hours, we were here on the scene right away to save lives,” he said. “But as time goes on, the recovery takes precedence, unfortunately.”

Among the survivors, Fernando said, the most common injuries he has seen include cuts and lacerations, which may get infected by contaminated water. He has also seen fractures and spine injuries — including some that resulted in paralysis — from contact with cars or trees floating downstream, he said.

Heal-Corp’s search and rescue operations, which assist the state’s emergency response effort, stretch miles and miles along the river, Fernando said.

“It just keeps expanding all the time ... because of the debris, which keeps pulling all the bodies down,” he said. “We keep getting updates all the time: Can you go farther downstream?”