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Sheriff Larry Leitha said among those confirmed dead in Kerr County are 38 adults and 21 children, but 18 adult victims and four children have not yet been identified.
During a news conference on Sunday local time, official said another four bodies had been recoverd in Travis County, three in Burnet County and one in Kendall County.
Mr Leitha said that 11 girls and one counsellor are still missing from Camp Mystic, the Christian girls’ summer camp just off the banks of the Guadalupe River.
Five campers, ages 8 and 9, have been confirmed dead in the flooding — along with the camp’s owner.
When asked why the camps weren’t evacuated before the water level rose and despite the Texas Division of Emergency Management’s warning days earlier a storm like this could occur. Mr Leitha and city manager Dalton Rice declined to comment, abruptly ending Sunday’s 10am press conference.
“That, that is a great question, but again, we want to make sure that we continue to focus. We still have 11 missing children that we want to get reunited with our families,” Mr Rice said.
Some 400 first responders from 20 agencies city, state and national are continuing the rescue operation in Kerr County, which saw the worst of the flash flooding along the river.
“We will continue our search efforts until everyone is found,” Mr Leitha assured.
The three victims identified Saturday include a high school soccer coach and his wife and a beloved high school teacher.
Reece Zunker, a soccer coach in Tivy, Texas, and his wife Paula, who were on vacation with their two children when the flooding swept through Kerr County Friday, were among the latest victims identified by officials.
“Our Tivy Soccer & KISD community is heartbroken with the loss of our leader and inspiration,” Tivy Boys Soccer wrote on Facebook Saturday night.
“The Coach Reece Zunker was not just a soccer coach he was a mentor, teacher and a role model for our Kerrville kids.”
Local outlet the Kerrville Daily Times reported that the two children were still missing. The family had been staying in a river house in the town of Hunt, not far from Camp Mystic.
Also confirmed among the dead is Jeff Wilson, a teacher at Kingswood Park High School who taught in the Humble Independent School District for 30 years, the school wrote on X.
“Tonight our [Humble Independent School District] family is grieving the devastating loss of teacher Jeff Wilson, who passed away due to the catastrophic flooding in Kerrville,” the mourning social media post read.
“He was a beloved teacher and co-worker to many and will be deeply missed.”
The district added that Wilson’s brother-in-law shared that his wife, Amber, and son, Shiloh are still considered missing.
“Please continue to keep their entire family, and ours, in your prayers,” the district urged.
Officials will provide the latest on the rescue effort in a press conference scheduled for 4 p.m. EDT Sunday (6am Monday AET).
The camp, which hosts up to 750 girls aged seven to 17, was overwhelmed by the floodwaters, which at one point saw the river swell by eight metres in just 45 minutes.
“The camp was completely destroyed,” Elinor Lester, 13, one of the evacuated campers, told The Associated Press.
“A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”
The family of Mystic’s director, Dick Eastland, confirmed he heroically died while trying to save the young girls from the storm.
Mr Eastland raced to one of the camp’s 23 cabins when the floodwater swept it away early Friday morning, Channel2Now reported. He had been involved with the private all-girls Christian camp since purchasing it in 1974 with his wife Tweety. His nephew confirmed his death via Facebook.
Former camper Paige Sumner said Mr Eastland and “was the father figure to all of us while we were away from home at Camp Mystic for six weeks”.
“He was the father of four amazing boys, but he had hundreds of girls each term who looked up to him like a dad,” she wrote. “I would never have taken a fishing class if it wasn’t taught by my new friend Dick.”
Harrowing photographs showed the damage wrought by the floodwaters, which reached the middle of the windows of the cabins where the girls slept, and higher than the bunk beds.
Entire walls were ripped off the buildings, trees uprooted and the girls’ belongings tossed into shrubbery.
The National Weather Service first issued a flash flood watch at 1.18pm on Thursday estimating up to seven inches of rising water.
At 1.14am, a “life threatening” flash flood warning was issued for about 30,000 people, the Texas Tribune reported.
Grilled about the suddenness of the flooding overnight and why more precautions weren’t taken, Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in Kerr County, told reporters “we do not have a warning system” and that “we didn’t know this flood was coming”.
“Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming,” he said. “We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States.”
The camp is currently without power or internet. A statement from its administrators, read out by the Lieutenant governor, stressed that the level of flooding was “catastrophic”.
“The highway has washed away, so we are struggling to get more help,” the camp said.
The communications problems are being exacerbated by the camp’s rule of imposing a ban on technology for the children staying there.
“Technology is actually not allowed there,” said NewsNation reporter Tracy Walder, whose daughter is friends with some of the missing kids.
“That’s why communication and information is kind of a bit difficult to come by.”
Mr Abbott, in a written statement, said Texas was “providing all necessary resources to Kerrville, Ingram, Hunt and the entire Texas Hill Country dealing with these devastating floods”.
“The state of Texas today has mobilised additional resources in addition to the resources sent in preparation for the storms. I urge Texans to heed guidance from state and local officials and monitor local forecasts to avoid driving into flooded areas.”
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, asked his followers on social media to “pray right now” for all involved, “especially Camp Mystic”.
“It’s terrible, the floods,” US President Donald Trump told reporters Friday night. “It’s shocking.”
Asked if Texas would receive federal aid, he said: “Oh yeah, sure, we’ll take care of it. We’re working with the governor.”
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Mr Trump said the federal government was working with state and local officials in response to the “tragic flooding”.
“Our Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, will be there shortly,” he wrote.
“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. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!”
Meanwhile, officials are warning residents of the area to continue being vigilant.
“The rain has let up, but we know there’s another wave coming,” Mr Martin said, adding that more rain would be hitting areas around the cities San Antonio and Austin.
Forecasters issued a flood warning for one county, urging those living near the Guadalupe River to “move to higher ground”.
Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual in the region.
– with AFP, NY Post and Fox News