Number of Missing in Kerr County, Texas, After Floods Drops to 3

The number of missing people in the Texas county hardest hit by the devastating July 4 floods is now just three, a dramatic drop from the nearly 100 officials had reported just days ago. Many were confirmed to be safe, local officials said on Saturday.

The new figure is a significant decrease from the 97 who were reported earlier in the week, and it represents those missing only in Kerr County. A handful more remain unaccounted for in other areas of the Hill Country that were devastated by the disastrous floods, which have killed at least 135 people statewide. Kerr County was the area in the state most affected by the floods, accounting for 107 of the deaths.

In a statement on Saturday, officials in Kerrville, the seat of Kerr County, said that “many individuals who were initially reported as missing have been verified as safe.” As of Saturday evening, the death toll in Kerr County had not changed.

It is not clear how many of the people previously listed as missing were actually affected by the floods. Some could have been out-of-town vacationers whom the authorities eventually found to be safe back home. Others could have been reported erroneously by worried relatives. The authorities have not publicly released a list of the missing.

“We are profoundly grateful to the more than 1,000 local, state and federal authorities who have worked tirelessly in the wake of the devastating flood that struck our community,” said Dalton Rice, the Kerrville city manager.

It’s common for the number of missing to fluctuate or to decline sharply after a natural disaster. After a catastrophic wildfire in Maui, Hawaii, in 2023, the number of missing people was initially listed as 1,100, but about six months later, it had dropped to two, with 102 deaths. Few of the missing turned out to be dead.

Even with the huge drop in numbers, officials in Kerrville said on Saturday that the search for those still missing would continue. State and local officials have vowed to find every missing person since the floods struck more than two weeks ago.

“Our thoughts remain with the families still awaiting news, and we will continue to stand with them as efforts persist,” Mayor Joe Herring Jr. of Kerrville said in the statement.

The floods hit the idyllic Hill Country — a river-threaded region of Central Texas whose natural beauty has long drawn visitors and made it a popular site for children’s summer camps — in the predawn hours of July 4. As residents and tourists slept beside the Guadalupe River’s banks, heavy rains swelled its waters by 20 to 30 feet in some areas within just a few hours.

Among the victims were young campers and teenage counselors of a beloved girls’ summer camp, families in R.V.s who traveled to the area for a Fourth of July getaway and locals whose homes or cars were swept away.

Many residents have said that they did not receive enough notice to evacuate from the incoming floods. They have questioned whether state and local officials did enough to warn people, as well as whether there should have been a more sophisticated alert system in place. Local, state and federal officials have largely deflected or criticized those lines of questioning.

For loved ones of those who are still missing, the wait for an update on their status grows more agonizing by the day.

Among those anxiously waiting are Sherry McCutcheon and Terry Traugott, sisters in Leander, northwest of Austin. The two have already heard that their mother and brother died during the floods in the house they shared. But they still don’t know what happened to another brother, Gary Traugott.

“I can’t stand it that Gary is laying out there by himself, on the ground or in that water,” Ms. Traugott said.

Ms. McCutcheon and Ms. Traugott said they refused to hold any funeral services until they find out about Mr. Traugott.

“We can’t have funerals for two when there are three,” Ms. McCutcheon said.

Jenna Russell contributed reporting.

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