UPDATE:
Kerr County Sherrif Larry Leitha reports that as of 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, there are 95 deceased. Among the deceased are 59 adults, 14 who are unidentified, 36 children and 13 unidentified children.
There are still five children from Camp Mystic who are missing, as well as one counselor.
Officials report that there are 161 missing people in the Kerr County area.
Sheriff Leitha said the sheriff's office has an additional 2,000+ people helping in first response and search and rescue efforts in the area.
The sherriff's office's Criminal Invesitgation Division is assisting with operations at funeral homes and in the identification process. The Special Operations Division is searching through debris, using heavy equipment, distributing assets with the Texas Game Wardens and are involved in recovery operations.
Captian Jason Waldrip with the Kerr County Sheriff's Office has been boots-on-the-ground, working everyday and gave some insight as to what first responders are dealing with during search and rescue operations:
"We are looking and searching the deeply impacted flood debris along the river. So these areas are where a lot of this debris is bottlenecked so it's a lot of large trees, it's a lot of the vehicles, it's a lot of home structures have built in to these areas," Capt. Waldrip said.
Capt. Waldrip also explained how the sheriff's office is working with other agencies, volunteers, and heavy equipment like excavators to search through heavy debris piles along the river for any missing people.
Community Service Officer Jonathan Lamb with the Kerrville Police Department shed light on the events that unfolded the morning of the floods, on July 4.
Officer Lamb explained that outside of Kerrville, in Hunt, Highway 39 crisscrosses the Guadalupe River multiple times. And when the river floods, it creates islands at those low water crossings and traps people in their homes. A Kerrville patrol sergeant lives in that area and when he woke up to leave for work, he realized he was trapped and surrounded by the flood.
"He saw people, dozens of people trapped on roofs. He saw people trapped in swift moving water. He gave them encouragement over his Public Address system in his vehicle. He told them to be strong, that he would get to them as quickly as he could and to hang on. And he knew he needed help," Officer Lamb said.
Officer Lamb said officers realized in the early morning hours that areas that traditionally don't flood were at risk, and that low-lying areas close to the river were in danger. He said officers spent hours evacuating people early July 4. In the first hour, over 100 homes were evacuated, and evacuated and rescued over 200 people.
Sheriff Leitha emphasized that there will be after-action, meaning there will be a report detailing the response before, during, and after the floods and the actions taken by first responders. This comes after he's been asked multiple times and multiple press conferences about when the CodeRed system was activated and the timeline surrounding the July 4 flood emergency.
"I believe those questions need to be answered to the family of the missed loves ones, to the public, you know, to the people who put me in this office," Sheriff Leitha said. "And I want that answer and we're gonna get that answer."
10 A.M. PRESS CONFERENCE:
Flash flood damage in Kerr County from the July 4–7 storms continues to unfold, with over 160 people still missing.
Kerr County officials held another debriefing on July 9 to address the public.
Watch here:
The devastating floods in central Texas have left families and communities in urgent need of support. Scripps News and the Scripps Howard Fund are partnering to provide critical relief to those impacted. Every dollar donated here will go directly to helping victims recover.
