<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The gruelling, desperate search for 27 </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/missing" rel="" target="" title="missing"><span>missing</span></a><span> girls has stretched into a third day after </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/at-least-13-dead-in-texas-floods-and-more-than-20-children-missing-from-a-girls-summer-camp/ed1ac01d-60f3-47c1-b9fd-d837d687d865" rel="" target="" title="raging floodwaters surged into a summer camp"><span>raging floodwaters surged into a summer camp</span></a><span> as </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/14-children-in-texas-are-among-the-37-dead-from-flash-floods-as-the-search-continues-for-the-missing/0f20bf2a-5794-4a7f-83fd-a8635513687d" rel="" target="" title="rescuers manoeuvred through challenging terrain"><span>rescuers manoeuvred through challenging terrain</span></a><span>, while Texans were asked to pray that any survivors would be found.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At least 51 people, including 15 children, were killed, with most of the deaths coming in Kerr County in the </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="" title="US"><span>US</span></a><span> state's Hill Country. Besides the 43 dead in Kerr County, four deaths were reported in Travis, three in Burnet and 1 in Kendall.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="http://9news.com.au/rescue" rel="" target="" title="Rescuers"><span>Rescuers</span></a><span> dealt with broken trees, overturned cars and muck-filled debris in a difficult task to find survivors. Authorities still have not said how many people were missing beyond the children from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-man-killed-struck-by-bus-at-taronga-zoo/a059e633-1a7a-4e4d-a8b4-8e8870a3ff61"><strong><span>'Extraordinary figure' in motorsport killed in Taronga Zoo bike crash</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>With each passing hour, the outlook became more bleak. Volunteers and some families of the missing who drove to the disaster zone began searching the riverbanks despite being asked not to do so.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Authorities faced growing questions on Sunday about whether enough warnings were issued in area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The destructive, fast-moving waters rose eight metres on the river in only 45 minutes before daybreak Friday, washing away homes and vehicles. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/texas-floods-search-for-missing-girls-plows-forward-after-flash-flood-kills-at-least-people-in-texas/9da0f633-51b1-46f9-8b04-2e0c8ba86c6f" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The danger was not over as flash flood watches remained in effect and more rain fell in central Texas on Sunday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officials said more than 850 people were rescued in the first 36 hours.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/joshua-brown-victoria-childcare-mother-of-child-allegedly-abused-at-daycare-centre-says-shes-broken/6a907c36-07cc-4a55-98b7-38ac1135f920"><strong><span>Mother of allegedly abused child says she's 'broken'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>A day of prayers in Texas</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Governor Greg Abbott vowed that authorities will work around the clock and said new areas were being searched as the water receded. He declared Sunday a day of prayer for the state.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I urge every Texan to join me in prayer this Sunday — for the lives lost, for those still missing, for the recovery of our communities, and for the safety of those on the front lines," he said in a statement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In Rome, Pope Leo XIV offered special prayers for those touched by the disaster. History's first American pope spoke in English at the end of his Sunday noon (8pm AEST) blessing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in summer camp, in the disaster caused by the flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas in the United States. We pray for them," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The hills along the Guadalupe River 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 Independence Day holiday, making it more difficult to know how many are missing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We don't even want to begin to estimate at this time," Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said on Saturday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/weather-forecast-new-south-wales-thunderstorms-coming-after-week-of-wild-weather/3f171e46-a7b5-426c-8520-ffdae757e319" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>Thunderstorms bring hail as wild weather returns</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Harrowing escapes from floodwaters</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Survivors shared terrifying stories of being swept away and clinging to trees as rampaging floodwaters carried trees and cars past them. Others fled to attics inside their homes, praying the water wouldn't reach them.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At Camp Mystic, a cabin full of girls held onto a rope strung by rescuers as they walked across a bridge with water whipping around their legs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Among those confirmed dead were an eight-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was at Camp Mystic, and the director of another camp up the road.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Locals know the area as "flash flood alley" but the flooding in the middle of the night caught many campers and residents by surprise even though there were warnings.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Warnings came before disaster</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The National Weather Service on Thursday advised of potential flooding and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare alert notifying of imminent danger.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the Mo-Ranch Camp in the community of Hunt, officials had been monitoring the weather and opted to move several hundred campers and attendees at a church youth conference to higher ground. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At nearby Camps Rio Vista and Sierra Vista, organisers also had mentioned on social media that they were watching the weather the day before ending their second summer session Thursday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Authorities and elected officials have said they did not expect such an intense downpour, the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US Representative Chip Roy, whose district includes the ravaged area, acknowledged that there would be second-guessing and finger-pointing as people look for someone to blame.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em></em><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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