Texas flooding updates: Over 130 dead as flash flood threat increases in Texas

Kerr County was hit the hardest, with at least 106 deaths.

Over 130 people are dead from the devastating flooding in the Texas Hill Country.

Kerr County was hit the hardest, with at least 106 deaths, including 36 children. President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration for the county and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the ground there.

Search and rescue operations are ongoing.


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Death toll climbs to 108

At least 108 people have died in Texas from the devastating flooding.

The vast majority of fatalities -- 87 victims -- are in hard-hit Kerr County.

Deaths were also confirmed in Travis, Williamson, Burnet, Tom Green and Kendall counties.

More than a dozen people are considered missing across several counties.

-ABC News' Matt Claiborne


Man shares his emotional search for his missing parents

Armed with a walking stick, hiking boots and a lot of faith, Robert Brake Jr. is traversing the twisted trees and piles of debris, desperately searching for his parents who have been missing since their cabin washed away on Friday.

A "funeral home was just set up initially as a morgue," he said. "We checked with them hourly, walking up to them, giving my parents information, the pictures. You were hoping not to see anything and hear anything. When you didn't, you had an ounce of ounce of hope. And you know what? That's been reassuring."

Joni Kay Brake and Robert Brake Sr., who have three kids, five grandkids and several great-grandkids, were very active and loved their family tremendously, Brake Jr. said.

Hope has kept Brake Jr. going as he navigates the difficult terrain around the Guadalupe River, but on Tuesday, he said he woke up and accepted that his parents won’t be coming back.

"The Lord woke me up," he said. He put me on my feet. He said, 'Go make a difference. Go make a difference.' People being kind and for whatever this tragedy has done, it's what people closer together, really has. And I believe that."

Brake said the support from all over the world has kept him going throughout this terrible time and he will continue searching along the river to help other families find their loved ones.

"The devastation, it’s unbelievable. I can't describe it or put it into words to friends and family," he said. "My heart goes out to the people that were in the river. I can only imagine how much fear they were experiencing and the doubt they were experiencing."

-ABC News’ Jaclyn Lee


Noem thanks Trump for disaster relief, recalls visiting Camp Mystic

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the Federal Emergency Management Agency response has quickly "streamlined" to help flooding victims.

"FEMA went to an enhanced level immediately. But as soon as you signed the major disaster declaration, we were able to get them resources and dollars right away, just like you envisioned, through state lot grants to help them with cleanup," Noem said to President Donald Trump at a Cabinet meeting.

At one point, Noem appeared emotional when she shared the story of visiting Camp Mystic, where she consoled several grieving family members.

She said she spoke to one counselor who "had hung on to some of these girls and was trying to keep them out of the floodwaters."

The counselor "had gotten hit by something and had lost two of the girls and wasn't able to hang on to them," Noem said. The counselor will "live the rest of her life thinking about that moment when she wasn't able to hang on to these girls," Noem said.

Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump will travel to Texas on Friday.

-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh


87 dead in Kerr County, 6 still missing from Camp Mystic

Eighty-seven people, including 30 children, have died in hard-hit Kerr County from the devastating flooding, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Tuesday.

Five campers and one counselor from Camp Mystic are still missing, Leitha said.

The sheriff said he didn't have an estimate on the overall number of people still missing.

Police said they were not aware of a live rescue since Friday.

Search and rescue operations are ongoing.

Officials were grilled at the news conference about their response to the flooding Friday morning. The sheriff said he wasn't notified until between 4 and 5 a.m. and he didn't answer if the emergency manager was awake.