Trump surveys damage in Texas as search continues for 160 missing
US President Donald Trump has reassured Kerrville, Texas, residents that the government would help rebuild after floods hit the central part of the state last week, killing at least 121 people.
The president and First Lady Melania Trump met on Friday with local officials on the ground - at one point standing in front of an upended tractor trailer - and surveyed the damage.
"I've never seen anything like it," Trump said, after taking a tour of the devastation.
More than 12,300 volunteers have gathered to help search for the 161 people still missing statewide. Officials said volunteers have been working 10 hours a day.
While storms damaged homes and killed residents throughout central Texas, Kerr County faced the brunt of the floodwaters.
Trump told officials gathered for an afternoon roundtable at a Kerrville youth center that he and the first lady were in town to "express the love and support, and the anguish of our entire nation".
The first lady, who ordinarily keeps a low profile, also toured the devastation. She said she hugged and prayed with families of the victims during her visit.
"My deepest sympathy to all of the parents who lost beautiful young souls," she said. "We are grieving with you. Our nation is grieving with you."
She also promised to visit again.
Among those killed in the storms were 27 young girls who were attending Camp Mystic - one of 18 summer camps located on that stretch of the Guadalupe River.
Search crews in Texas are still sifting through debris for scores of missing people. Authorities have said they will not relent until everyone is accounted for.
"This is a massive operation, expanding day by day," Rajeev Fernando, the Chief Medical Officer for the relief organization Heal Corps, told the BBC.
"All of this debris drags bodies further down the river, for miles and miles. So every day we get updates, and every day it's really expanding the operation."
In the wake of the deadly tragedy, questions have been raised about whether adequate warnings were provided and why camps weren't evacuated ahead of the deluge.
Experts have said a number of factor led to the deadly impact of the flash flood, including the pre-dawn timing, the location of some homes, the patchwork of cell service and its overall speed and severity.
Trump dismissed a media question on Friday what more could have been done to warn residents, saying: "Only an evil person would ask a question like that."
He praised the "heroism" of search and rescue efforts and said it "easy" to sit back and talk about what could have been done differently.
The Guadalupe River levels, which rose to flood homes, roads and cars, caught many by surprise.
The catastrophe unfolded before daybreak a week ago. The river rose 26ft (8m) in the span of just 45 minutes. Young children and staff at summer camps and people in homes along the river were asleep as weather alerts went off.
Joe Rigelsky, founder of the Christian aid organization Upstream International, has been leading search units combing debris with specially trained cadaver dogs along the Guadelupe River.
"You couldn't have enough of these dogs here right now," Mr Rigelsky said on a mission the BBC joined with one dog, Rocket.
As his team followed Rocket down the river, his wife - and Upstream International co-founder - Sami, picked up lost items scattered among the debris.
She untangled a child's necklace from a tree, picked up a baby cup with a snail painted on, and stumbled upon a throw pillow that reads 'JOY'.
She posts pictures and descriptions of the items on a Facebook group called 'Found on the Guadalupe River', where people can claim the lost items or use them to help identify the missing.
"In the scheme of everything that's out here, it's such a small thing," she said of recovering the items.
"But somebody's kid played with this," she added, lifting the baby cup.
BBC
