Rescuers scoured flooded riverbanks littered with mangled trees, overturned cars and muck-filled debris Saturday in an increasingly bleak mission to locate missing people, including more than two dozen girls who have not been seen since their camp was slammed with a wall of water in a historic flash flood. The storm killed at least 37 people across the state, including 14 children. Some 36 hours after the floods, authorities still have not said how many people were missing beyond 27 children from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered. The destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the Guadalupe River in just 45 minutes before daybreak Friday, washing away homes and vehicles. The danger was not over as torrential rains continued pounding communities outside San Antonio on Saturday and flash flood warnings and watches remained in effect. Searchers used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads. Gov. Greg Abbott vowed that authorities will be relentless and work around the clock to rescue and recover victims, adding that new areas were being searched as the water recedes. “We will find every one of them,” he said. More rain fell around Austin, and a massive search continued in the nearby Hill Country. At least three people died and 10 others were missing in Travis County, home to the state capital. Two people died in Burnet County, where a firefighter was among the missing after he was swept away by floodwaters while responding to a rescue, county Emergency Management Coordinator Derek Marchio said. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 32 bodies had been recovered so far in the devastated Hill Country: 18 adults and 14 children. Authorities were coming under scrutiny over whether the camps and residents in places long vulnerable to flooding received proper warning and whether enough preparations were made. The hills along the Guadalupe River in central Texas are dotted with century-old youth camps and campgrounds where generations of families have come to swim and enjoy the outdoors. The area is especially popular around the July Fourth holiday, making it more difficult to know how many are missing. “We don’t even want to begin to estimate at this time,” City Manager Dalton Rice said Saturday morning. Raging storm hit camp in middle of the night “The camp was completely destroyed,” said Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers. “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.” The raging storm, fueled by incredible amounts of moisture, woke up her cabin just after midnight Friday, and when rescuers arrived, they tied a rope for the girls to hold as they walked across a bridge with water whipping around their legs, she said. Frantic parents and families posted photos of missing loved ones and pleas for information. On Saturday the camp was mostly deserted. Helicopters roared above as a few people surveyed the damage, including a pickup tossed onto its side and a building missing its entire front wall. Among those confirmed dead were an 8-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was at Camp Mystic, and the director of another camp just up the road. The flooding in […]