Texas flooding death toll rises to 90
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Texas, flash flood
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KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of others in Kerr County on the Fourth of July.
More than 111 people have died across six counties after flash flooding from heavy rain began affecting the state last week.
Most summers, Kerrville, Texas, draws crowds for its July 4 celebration. This year, the streets are filled with emergency responders.
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The Texas Tribune on MSNDid fiscal conservatism block plans for a new flood warning system in Kerr County?In the last nine years, federal funding for a system has been denied to the county as it contends with a tax base hostile to government overspending.
Hundreds of parents waited hours Saturday for girls to arrive in Kerrville after their Camp Waldemar stay was cut short by the deadly Guadalupe River flood.
Flash floods surged through in the middle of the night, but many local officials appeared unaware of the unfolding catastrophe, initially leaving people near the river on their own.
Meteorologists say incredible amounts of moisture in the air fueled a storm that barely moved over central Texas, creating conditions for fatal flash floods.