Kerrville, 20 July

Officials in a Texas hill country community pummelled by deadly flooding on 4 July said Saturday that just three people remain missing, down from nearly 100, after people who had previously been reported missing have since been accounted for.

The reduction in the number of people on the missing list came as the search for victims entered its third week. It is a significant drop from the more than 160 people officials previously said were unaccounted for in Kerr County alone.

The death toll in Kerr County, 107, held steady for much of this week even as the intensive search continued.

Flash floods killed at least 135 people in Texas over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, with most deaths along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of San Antonio. The floods laid waste to the Hill Country, which is naturally prone to flash flooding because its dry, dirt-packed soil cannot soak up heavy rain.

Vacation cabins, youth camps campgrounds fill the riverbanks and hills of Kerr County, and Camp Mystic, a century-old Christian summer camp for girls in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe. At least 27 of its campers and counsellors died.

In Kerrville, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Austin, local officials have come under scrutiny over whether residents were adequately warned about the rising water 4 July.

“This remarkable progress reflects countless hours of coordinated search and rescue operations, careful investigative work, and an unwavering commitment to bringing clarity and hope to families during an unimaginably difficult time,” Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice in a statement Saturday night.