95 dead in Kerr County, including 36 kids
In hard-hit Kerr County, the death toll has climbed to 95, including 36 children, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a news conference Wednesday.
The statewide death toll stands at 118.
Kerr County's number of missing persons remains at 161, including five campers and one counselor from Camp Mystic.
"This incident will be reviewed -- you have my word,” the sheriff said, adding that improvements will be made if needed.
Kerrville police commended the officers who in the darkness of early Friday morning "realized that areas of town that traditionally don't flood were going to flood, and that low lying areas close to the river were in danger."
"Our officers spent hours going back and forth in that first hour. They evacuated over 100 homes and evacuated and rescued over 200 people," Kerrville police community services officer Jonathan Lamb said.
Officers went "door-to-door, waking people up, convincing them that, ‘Yes, the floodwaters are coming, and you need to leave now,'" he said. "They rescued people out of vehicles. They rescued people out of homes that were already flooding, pulling them out of windows."
Lamb said the tragedy would have been worse without officers’ quick-thinking.
