Abbott: 161 Still Missing in Kerr County After Floods

'There very likely could be more added to that list'
Posted Jul 8, 2025 6:32 PM CDT
Abbott: More Than 160 Still Missing After Floods
Search and rescue teams from the Kerrville Fire Department walk past debris after flooding near the banks of the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.   (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

The death toll from the Texas floods now stands at 111, authorities said Tuesday—and it could still more than double. At a news conference Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott said more than 160 people are missing and the number could rise, NBC News reports. "Just in the Kerr County area alone, there are 161 people who are known to be missing," the governor said. "Know this: We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for," Abbott said. "Know this also: There very likely could be more added to that list." The steep rise in the number of people reported missing came after authorities set up a hotline, reports the AP.

Abbott said those missing include five girls and a counselor from Camp Mystic, which said Monday that it had lost 27 girls and counselors in the "unimaginable tragedy." "There are far more fatalities than there were in Hurricane Harvey. That's how catastrophic this is," Abbott said, per the Washington Post. "This is beyond anyone's comprehension right now." Search and rescue efforts are continuing, but hopes of finding survivors are fading. Jonathan Lamb of the Kerrville Police Department said Tuesday that the last "live rescue" in the county was made on Friday, the day of the flood, the New York Times reports.

Abbott toured the disaster zone by helicopter on Tuesday. When a reporter asked the governor who was to blame for the tragedy, he said, "That's the word choice of losers." He went on to use a football analogy, the AP reports. "Every football team makes mistakes," he said. "The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who's to blame. The championship teams are the ones who say, 'Don't worry about it, man, we got this. We're going to make sure that we go score again and we're going to win this game.' The way winners talk is not to point fingers."

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