July 6 (UPI) -- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott visited the all-girls retreat Camp Mystic late Saturday as the death toll from Friday's flash flooding of the Guadalupe River continued to rise through the weekend. Dozens are still missing, and at least 80 people are reported to have been killed by the flooding as of Sunday night.
"Today I visited Camp Mystic. It, and the river running beside it, were horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I've seen in any natural disaster," Abbott said on social media. "The height the rushing water reached to the top of cabins was shocking. We won't stop until we find every girl who was in those cabins."
At least 68 deaths have been reported in Kerr County, where Camp Mystic is located, the sheriff's office said, adding that search-and-rescue operations were ongoing. Among the deceased are 28 children.
"At present, there are 10 Camp Mystic campers unaccounted for, along with one counselor. We continue to offer our condolences to those affected, and we are working tirelessly to reunite families," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
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Judge Andy Brown in Travis County told reporters during a Sunday press conference that there were at least four confirmed deaths.
There were at least three confirmed deaths and three people missing in Burnet County, where more than 60 people were rescued, according to a statement from the Burnet County Sheriff's Office.
At least two deaths have been confirmed in Kendall County. Two deaths were also confirmed late Sunday in Williamson County, where officials said one person remains unaccounted for.
There is one reported death in Tom Green County, state officials said at a press conference.
The White House Faith Office issued a statement late Sunday asking for prayers for those killed by the floods.
"Amidst this tragedy, our nation must come together to pray for the victims, their families and the first responders conducting rescue missions to find those still missing," it said. "May God wrap his loving arms around all those in Texas."
President Donald Trump told reporters on the tarmac in Bedminster, N.J., on Sunday that the White House has been "in touch" with Abbott and that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was on the ground.
"It's a horrible thing that took place. Absolutely horrible," he said. "So we say God bless all of the people who have gone through so much and God bless the state of Texas. It's an incredible place."
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which Trump has said he plans to phase out this year, said in a statement that the president has approved a major disaster declaration for Texas, making federal disaster assistance available to those in hard-hit Kerr County.
Asked if he still plans to discontinue the federal agency, Trump replied: "Well, FEMA is something we can talk about later, but right now they're busy working, so we'll leave it at that."
The National Weather Service said in an update Sunday morning that "much of the flood-ravaged region of Central Texas should expect a lessening threat of widespread torrential rainfall." But the weather service warned that isolated and scattered thunderstorms could continue to cause flooding given that the ground is already saturated.
"By this evening, these thunderstorms are expected to taper off for a more quiet night tonight into Monday morning," the NWS said in its update. "Monday should see some more isolated to scattered thunderstorms to pop during the heat of the day across central Texas and into Oklahoma before tapering off during Monday evening."
The Lower Colorado River Authority has issued a notice strongly encouraging people to stay off Lake Travis, Lake Lyndon B. Johnson and Lake Marble Falls in the Texas' Hill Country for the next few days because of the flooding.
Since the flooding began, the administration of President Donald Trump and its Department of Governmental Efficiency have come under increased scrutiny from the public for cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization union, told The New York Times that the vacancy rate for positions at the NWS local offices in nearby San Antonio and San Angelo was double what they were when Trump took office. Those vacancies included the April 30 departure of a warning coordination meteorologist.
John Morales, a meteorologist and former NWS forecaster, said on social media that he hasn't seen any evidence that cuts to the NOAA have caused "any degradation" in the anticipatory weather warnings ahead of the Texas flooding.
"Those local officials blaming NWS are wrong! But the cuts will eventually bite us with unneeded loss of life," Morales said.
Morales noted that the NWS office in the city of Del Rio is among the locations where balloon launches "haven't skipped a beat" because they are automated and played a crucial role in warning of the flooding.
