The toll of the catastrophic flood that hit Texas on July 4 has risen to 120, as a search continues for missing people.
As of Tuesday evening, there were more than 170 people still unaccounted for, according to figures provided by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, suggesting the death toll could still rise significantly. Searchers have not found anyone alive since Friday.
Search and rescue team members look for missing people amid fallen trees by the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas
Officials in flood-stricken central Texas on Wednesday again deflected mounting questions about whether they could have done more to warn people.
Scientists say climate change has made extreme flood events more frequent and damaging by creating warmer, wetter weather patterns.
The Kerr County seat, Kerrville, was devastated when torrential rains lashed the area early on Friday, dropping more than a foot of rain in less than an hour and swelling the Guadalupe River to a height of nearly 30 feet (9 meters).
The death toll in Kerr County was 95 as of Wednesday morning, including three dozen children, Leitha told reporters.
That figure includes at least 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' summer retreat on the banks of the Guadalupe.
Communication challenges
The state emergency management agency warned last Thursday on the eve of the disaster that parts of central Texas faced a threat of flash floods, based on National Weather Service forecasts.
But twice as much rain as forecast ended up falling over two branches of the Guadalupe just upstream of the fork where they converge, sending all of that water racing into the single channel where it slices through Kerrville, City Manager Dalton Rice has said.
Ruined by fire, then water, New Mexico village rebuilds all over again
Three people died in New Mexico, two of them young children, when a flash flood swept through the village of Ruidoso in mountains around 135 miles (217 km) southeast of Albuquerque, the state's largest city.
The children — a 4-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy — had been camping with their parents when they were swept away. The father and mother were being treated for injuries sustained in the flooding at a hospital in Texas, according to officials at Fort Bliss, where the father is stationed.
The flooding was sparked by heavy rain that fell on wildfire burn scars, causing a rapid runoff of water that saw the Rio Ruidoso River rise to a record 20 feet, five feet higher than its previous historical high, the village said in a statement.
Broken tree limbs, twisted metal, crumpled cars, and muddy debris remained on Wednesday.
A popular summer retreat, Ruidoso is no stranger to tragedy. It has spent a year rebuilding following destructive wildfires last summer and the flooding that followed.
Tuesday's rainfall was more than could be absorbed by the hillsides and canyons within the burn scar.
Hundreds gather at high school stadium to mourn lost lives
People attend a prayer service for flood victims in Kerrville
Several hundred people gathered for a worship ceremony at a high school stadium in Texas on Wednesday evening.
During a series of prayers for the victims and the more than 160 people still believed to be missing in hard-hit Kerr County, which includes Kerrville, people in the crowd clutched one another and brushed away tears.
The event was held as search crews and volunteers continued to scour miles along the Guadalupe River for the people still missing.
In air boats, helicopters and on horseback, crews looked in trees and mounds below their feet, while search dogs sniffed for any sign of buried bodies.
With almost no hope of finding anyone alive, searchers said they were focused on bringing the families of the missing people some closure.