The death toll has continued to rise every few hours, reaching at least 109 by the afternoon. Officials in hard-hit Kerr County acknowledged that no one there had been found alive since Friday.
Gov. Abbott said that the state was aware of the possibility of serious flooding days in advance. Speaking in a news conference, he said that resources were in place two days before floodwaters surged on Friday morning. “We were ready with the resources on the ground to be able to quickly respond,” he said, but “no one would know that that would be a 30-foot high tsunami wall of water.”
When asked about an investigation into the death toll, Gov. Abbott repeated part of the question. “You asked, and I’m going to use your words, ‘who’s to blame?’ Know this,” Abbott said. “That’s the word choice of losers.”
He went on to use an analogy drawn from football, a sport whose importance to the state he stressed. “Every football team makes mistakes,” Abbott said. “The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who’s to blame. The championship teams are the ones that say, ‘Don’t worry, ma’am, we’ve got this.’”
Sherry Richardson, 64, was one of the flood victims identified on Tuesday. Early Friday morning, her cabin, along the Little Creek River in Liberty Hill, Texas, was swept away, her daughter Deliah Greenslet said. Greenslet said her mom was on the phone with 911 for 30 minutes before the call cut off, had climbed to the loft of the two-story cabin and was attempting to get onto the roof. She lived behind her workplace, a care center for people with disabilities.
“I just find it so hard to believe that we had no warning,” Greenslet said. “We need some answers here in Texas.”
