Some 32 people, including 14 children have been confirmed dead after flash floods in central Texas, authorities have said, as rescuers continued a frantic search for survivors including dozens still missing from a girls' summer camp.
"What I can tell you, an update, there's 32 deceased, 18 of those are adults and 14 are children. Five of the adults remain unidentified and three children remain unidentified," said Kerr Country Sheriff Larry Leitha.
The sheriff's office in Kerr County, Texas said 800 people had been evacuated from the region as flood waters receded in the area around the Guadalupe River, about 137km northwest of San Antonio.
At least 23 to 25 people from the Camp Mystic summer camp were reported missing earlier, most of them believed to be young girls.
The river waters rose nearly 10 metres rapidly near the camp.
Watch: Texas Governor: "This is a 24/7 operation, day and night"
The US National Weather Service said that the flash flood emergency has largely ended for Kerr County, the epicenter of the flooding, following thunderstorms that dumped as much as a foot of rain early yesterday.
A flood watch, however, remains in effect until 7pm from the San Antonio-Austin, Texas, region, with scattered showers expected throughout the day, said Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
"In terms of the Guadalupe River, the extreme flood waters have receded," she said.
"It's no longer at extreme flood stages. And we're not expecting additional impacts."
US President Donald Trump said the federal government is working with state and local officials to respond to the flooding.
"Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy. Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best," he said on social media.
Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerrville, the county seat, told reporters on Friday that the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing advance evacuation orders as the Guadalupe River swiftly rose above major flood stage.
"This happened very quickly, over a very short period of time that could not be predicted, even with radar," Mr Rice said.
"This happened within less than a two-hour span."
State emergency management officials had warned as early as Thursday that west and central Texas faced heavy rains and flash flood threats "over the next couple days," citing National Weather Service forecasts ahead of the holiday weekend.
The weather forecasts, however, "did not predict the amount of rain that we saw," W. Nim Kidd, director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, told a news conference on Friday night.
Watch: Areas of Kerr County, Texas impacted by heavy rain and flooding
The weekend disaster echoes a catastrophic flood almost 40 years ago along the Guadalupe River where a bus and a van leaving a church camp encountered flood waters and 10 teenagers drowned trying to escape, according to a National Weather Service event summary of the 1987 storm. Hundreds of people were evacuated, it said.
At a news conference late yesterday, almost 18 hours after the crisis began, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said search-and-rescue operations would press on through the night and into today.
Mr Abbott said resources devoted to the effort would be "limitless".
The US National Weather Service had declared a flash flood emergency for parts of Kerr County in south-central Texas Hill Country, about 105km northwest of San Antonio, following thunderstorms that dumped as much as a foot of rain.
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July Fourth fireworks displays ended up being canceled in flood-stricken communities throughout the region, including Kerrville, where the waterfront site for last night's planned US Independence Day celebration was submerged by the rain-swollen river.
At last night's briefing, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 24 flood-related fatalities had been confirmed, up from 13 earlier in the day.
Another person found dead in neighbouring Kendall County was not confirmed to be a flood-related casualty, Mr Leitha said.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said yesterday afternoon that authorities were searching for 23 girls listed as missing from among more than 750 children at summer camp sites along the banks of the Guadalupe River when the area was inundated by floodwaters at around 4am local time.
The missing campers had all been attending Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls.
"We're praying for all those missing to be found alive," Mr Patrick said.
It was not clear whether anyone unaccounted for might have ended up among the deceased victims tallied countywide by the sheriff.
Otherwise, all other campers were safe, authorities said, with campers being evacuated throughout the day.
"Everybody is doing everything in their power to get these kids out," Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the top local elected official, had said at a news briefing on the disaster hours earlier.
Mr Kelly said a number of scattered residential subdivisions, recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds were hit hard.
Pressed by reporters why more precautions were not taken with stormy weather in the forecast, Mr Kelly insisted a disaster of such magnitude was unforeseen.
"We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States," he said.
"We had no reason to believe this was going to be anything like what's happened here. None whatsoever."
In an alert on Thursday, the Texas Division of Emergency Management said it had increased its readiness level and "activated additional state emergency response resources" as parts of west and central Texas braced "for continued heavy rainfall and flash flooding threats heading into the holiday weekend".
Lieutenant Governor Patrick said the Guadalupe River had risen eight metre in 45 minutes as heavy showers soaked the region.
As of last night, emergency personnel had rescued or evacuated 237 people, including 167 by helicopter.
With additional rain forecast in the region, Mr Patrick warned that an ongoing threat for possible flash flooding extended from San Antonio to Waco for the next 24 to 48 hours.
Last night, Governor Abbott signed a disaster declaration to hasten emergency assistance to Kerr and a cluster of additional counties hardest hit by the floods.
Personnel from the US Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency also were activated to assist local authorities in confronting the crisis, officials said.
