The death toll from catastrophic floods in Texas reached at least 78 on Sunday, including 28 children, as the search for girls missing from a summer camp continued and fears of more flooding prompted evacuations of volunteer responders, Reuters reported.

Larry Leitha, sheriff of Kerr County in Texas Hill Country, said 68 people had died in flooding in his county, the epicenter of the flooding, among them 28 children. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, speaking at a press conference on Sunday afternoon, said another 10 had died elsewhere in Texas and confirmed 41 were missing.

President Donald Trump sent his condolences to the victims and said he would probably visit the area on Friday. His administration had been in touch with Abbott, he added.

“It’s a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible. So we say, God bless all of the people that have gone through so much, and God bless, God bless the state of Texas,” he told reporters as he left New Jersey.

Among the most devastating impacts of the flooding occurred at Camp Mystic summer camp, a nearly century-old Christian girls camp where 10 Camp Mystic campers and one counselor were still missing, according to Leitha.

“It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through,” said Abbott, who noted he toured the area on Saturday and pledged to continue efforts to locate the missing.

The flooding occurred after the nearby Guadalupe River broke its banks after torrential rain fell in the central Texas area on Friday, the U.S. Independence Day holiday.

Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said the destruction killed three people in Burnet County, one in Tom Green County, five in Travis County and one in Williamson County.

“You will see the death toll rise today and tomorrow,” said Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, also speaking on Sunday.

Officials said on Saturday that more than 850 people had been rescued, including some clinging to trees, after a sudden storm dumped up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain across the region, about 85 miles (140 km) northwest of San Antonio, read the report.

Kidd said he was receiving unconfirmed reports of “an additional wall of water” flowing down some of the creeks in the Guadalupe Rivershed, as rain continued to fall on soil in the region already saturated from Friday’s rains.

“We’re evacuating parts of the river right now because we are worried about another wall of river coming down in those areas,” he said, referencing volunteers from outside the area seeking to help locate victims.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency was activated on Sunday and is deploying resources to first responders in Texas after Trump issued a major disaster declaration, the Department of Homeland Security said. U.S. Coast Guard helicopters and planes were aiding search and rescue efforts.

Trump has previously outlined plans to scale back the federal government’s role in responding to natural disasters, leaving states to shoulder more of the burden themselves.

Some experts questioned whether cuts to the federal workforce by the Trump administration, including to the agency that oversees the National Weather Service, led to a failure by officials to accurately predict the severity of the floods and issue appropriate warnings ahead of the storm, Reuters reported.

Trump’s administration has overseen thousands of job cuts from the National Weather Service’s parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving many weather offices understaffed, former NOAA director Rick Spinrad said.

Spinrad said he did not know if those staff cuts factored into the lack of advance warning for the extreme Texas flooding, but that they would inevitably degrade the agency’s ability to deliver accurate and timely forecasts.

Trump pushed back when asked on Sunday if federal government cuts hobbled the disaster response or left key job vacancies at the National Weather Service under Trump’s oversight.

“That water situation, that all is, and that was really the Biden setup,” he said referencing his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden. “But I wouldn’t blame Biden for it, either. I would just say this is 100-year catastrophe.”

He declined to answer a question about FEMA, saying only “They’re busy working, so we’ll leave it at that,” Trump said.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees FEMA and NOAA, said a “moderate” flood watch issued on Thursday by the National Weather Service had not accurately predicted the extreme rainfall and said the Trump administration was working to upgrade the system.

Joaquin Castro, a Democratic U.S. congressman from Texas, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program that fewer personnel at the weather service could be dangerous.

“When you have flash flooding, there’s a risk that if you don’t have the personnel … to do that analysis, do the predictions in the best way, it could lead to tragedy,” Castro said.

Katharine Somerville, a counselor on the Cypress Lake side of Camp Mystic, on higher ground than the Guadalupe River side, said her 13-year-old campers were scared as their cabins sustained damage and lost power in the middle of the night.

“Our cabins at the tippity top of hills were completely flooded with water. I mean, y’all have seen the complete devastation, we never even imagined that this could happen,” Somerville said in an interview on Fox News on Sunday.

Somerville said the campers in her care were put on military trucks and evacuated, and that all were safe.

The disaster unfolded rapidly on Friday morning as heavier-than-forecast rain drove river waters rapidly to as high as 29 feet (9 meters).

A day after the disaster struck, the summer camp, where 700 girls were in residence at the time of the flooding, was a scene of devastation. Inside one cabin, mud lines indicating how high the water had risen were at least six feet (1.83 m) from the floor. Bed frames, mattresses and personal belongings caked with mud were scattered inside. Some buildings had broken windows, one had a missing wall.

A powerful flash flooding event ripped through central Texas over the Independence Day weekend, claiming at least 51 lives, including 15 children, and leaving scores of people missing, authorities confirmed.

More than 300 mm of rain fell in just a few hours late on July 4, fueled by remnants of Tropical Storm Barry and a stalled weather system over the Hill Country. The Guadalupe River surged approximately 7.6 to 8.8 meters, submerging cabins and sweeping away vehicles, trees, and mobile homes in communities such as Kerrville and Comfort.

Camp Mystic, a historic girls’ camp along the river, was particularly hard hit. Up to 27 campers remain missing, with at least 15 children among the confirmed fatalities.

More than 850 people were rescued—many clinging to trees or rooftops—by ground crews, air support, and the Texas National Guard. Response teams conducted over 160 air rescues, working in dangerous conditions as floodwaters surged through residential areas and rural terrain.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency overnight Thursday, triggering mobile alerts. However, the intensity and timing of the floods—striking in the early hours—left many residents with little time to react. State officials are reviewing whether forecast gaps or emergency response staffing issues hindered more timely warnings.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a disaster for affected counties and deployed more than 1,300 personnel and 900 operational assets, including federal support coordinated with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “We will find every single person who’s been a victim,” Abbott said.

With more than 50 counties under emergency declaration, officials warn of continued danger as further rain is forecast through the weekend.

Recovery operations continue across the region, with rescuers searching for the missing and efforts underway to restore communications, shelter the displaced, and assess infrastructure damage.

Communities across Central Texas now face a long road to recovery as the state responds to one of the deadliest natural disasters in recent history.

Emergency crews, volunteers, and federal teams remain on high alert amid rising concerns over public safety, resource strain, and long-term rebuilding.

Asia is heating up almost twice as fast as the global average, fueling unprecedented heatwaves, marine heat events, glacial retreat and extreme flooding, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned in its State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report released on Monday.

According to the WMO, 2024 ranked as either the warmest or second-warmest year on record across Asia, with average temperatures soaring about 1.04 °C above the 1991–2020 baseline. Heatwaves swept across East, Southeast and Central Asia from spring through autumn, shattering monthly temperature records in Japan, South Korea and China, while Myanmar recorded a historic high of 48.2 °C.

The continent’s surrounding seas also experienced unprecedented warming. 

Sea surface temperatures in the northern Arabian Sea and the Northwest Pacific climbed at nearly double the global rate—0.24 °C per decade—driving marine heatwaves that affected some 15 million km² of ocean in August and September alone. 

Coastal regions face mounting sea-level rise, with the waters bordering the Indian and Pacific Oceans rising faster than the global mean.

High-Mountain Asia—the “Third Pole” comprising glaciers in the Himalayas and Tian Shan—suffered dramatic ice losses. 

Of 24 monitored glaciers, 23 recorded net mass loss in 2023–24, exacerbated by reduced winter snowfall and blistering summer heat. 

Urumqi Glacier No. 1 in eastern Tian Shan, in Central Asia, marked its lowest mass balance since measurements began in 1959, heightening risks of glacial lake outburst floods and regional water insecurity.

Extreme precipitation events compounded the crisis: Central Asia endured its worst floods in seven decades, displacing more than 118,000 people, while severe monsoon downpours triggered deadly landslides in India’s Kerala state. 

Late-season storms in Nepal claimed at least 246 lives and caused nearly $94 million in damages, though strengthened early-warning systems and anticipatory action helped protect over 130,000 residents. Conversely, drought in China left 4.8 million people without water for irrigation and inflicted over $400 million in agricultural losses.

“The State of the Climate in Asia report highlights shifts in key indicators—surface temperature, glacier mass and sea level—that will have profound repercussions for societies, economies and ecosystems,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. 

She emphasized the critical role of national meteorological agencies and their partners in delivering early warnings and safeguarding vulnerable communities.

The report underscores the urgency for regional cooperation on climate adaptation and mitigation. 

As Asia faces intensifying climatic extremes, strengthening resilience through improved forecasting, infrastructure investment and sustainable resource management will be paramount to protecting lives and livelihoods across the world’s fastest-warming continent.