Rescuers in Texas are struggling to find dozens of missing people, including children swept away by flash floods that claimed the lives of at least 78 people. Forecasters are warning of new flooding, AFP reports.

At least 40 adults and 28 children have died in worst-hit Kerr County, Sheriff Larry Leita said.

State officials said at least 10 more people have died from heavy rains and subsequent flash flooding in nearby areas.

"You're going to see that death toll rise today," Texas Department of Public Safety Chief Freeman Martin warned at a news conference.

"Statewide, in all of the flood-affected areas, 41 are known missing," Texas Governor Greg Abbott said.

Local Texans joined forces with disaster officials on the ground and in helicopters to search for the missing, including ten girls and one counselor from a Christian summer camp by the river where about 750 people were staying when the disaster struck.

In a horrific display of the power of nature, the rainwater of the Guadalupe River reached the tops of the trees and the roofs of the cottages in the Mystic camp where the girls were sleeping the night before Friday (July 4), carrying away some of them and leaving behind a picture of destruction.

Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings in the camp were covered in mud. Cabin windows were broken, apparently from the force of the water.

Governor Dan Patrick said that on July 6 it would rain heavily, which could cause further flooding.

He told Fox News stories of heroic deeds, such as how a counselor at a camp broke a window so girls in pajamas could swim out and through the neck-high water.

"These little girls swam for about 10 or 15 minutes. Can you imagine, in the darkness and the rushing waters, the trees going by and the rocks coming down on you? And then getting to a spot on land," Patrick says.

Earlier, authorities reported that 27 girls were missing from the camp. Sheriff Leita said the number had dwindled to ten girls and one counselor at the camp, but did not explain the sharp reduction in numbers.

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that slow-moving thunderstorms were threatening new flash flooding over the saturated land in central Texas. 

The flooding began early on the 4th of July holiday weekend when several months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, much of it at night while people slept.

In just 45 minutes, the Guadalupe River reached 26 feet (8 meters) - more than a two-story building. | BGNES