At least 13 people have been killed in the US state of Texas after heavy rain caused flash flooding, according to local media reports.
Officials have also said more than 20 are missing from a girls’ camp in Texas.
As much as 10 inches (25 centimetres) of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.
Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in the county, confirmed fatalities from the flooding and dozens of water rescues so far.
The judge told reporters at a news conference that “most” of the bodies are yet to be identified.
“We’re trying to get the identity of these folks, but we don’t have it yet,” he said.
When asked about the suddenness of the flash flooding, he said “we do not have a warning system”, even as local reporters pointed towards the warnings and pushed for answers.
“We have floods all the time,” he said. “This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States.”
Meanwhile, at another news conference taking place at the same time, Texas’s lieutenant governor said somewhere between six and ten bodies have been found so far in the frantic search for victims, which has taken place in fast-moving water.
“Some are adults, some are children,” Dan Patrick said. He added that it is unclear where some of the bodies came from.
Emergency services are continuing to search for those missing.
People desperately searching for their loved ones have posted comments on a Facebook post from the Kerr County sheriff’s office.
One woman said she couldn’t reach her daughter, who had rented a cabin with her husband and two children. She pleaded for officials to release the names of those who have been evacuated.
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