She was recently adopted and returned due to the adopter stating she was not a good fit – she was stronger on leash than expected. She was reactive when passing other dogs or cats on a walk. She loves squeaky toys and playing fetch. She loves to spread out on the couch. She’s very friendly and is potty trained. She knows sit and come, and she was left loose in the house when the previous adopter was not home.
Marsha can be a bit of an independent spirit! For her first doggie playgroup session, she entered the playgroup feeling a bit reserved and stayed that way throughout the session. However, her second playgroup session was a different story! She was super happy, playful, and a very eager play partner. With the right companion and time to acclimate to her cat-free environment, Marsha could be your dream dog!
She’s been a bit glum lately, so a volunteer took her to Anderson Point Park for a hike. She immediately perked up and had a blast walking around and rolling in the grass. She’s definitely a hound; she dutifully sniffed along the path of some deer tracks we found, and she even found a little box turtle (turtle was moved safely out of the way). They passed by lots of bikers, joggers, and a few dogs, and she didn’t care about any of them. She barked at a squirrel once when they were sitting down for a water break, but they were able to move her away fairly easily. When she returned to the shelter, she immediately became more subdued again. This hound is looking for her perfect adventure buddy.
If you’re interested in learning more about her, please reach out to our volunteer matchmakers at [email protected] with the subject line “Marsha 256809”.
She is up to date on vaccinations, flea/tick, and heartworm prevention, is microchipped, and already spayed. If you have dogs, we recommend slow introductions over time. She should go to a home without any cats. If you have children in your home, we recommend supervision between animals and children at all times.
By NADIA LATHAN, SEAN MURPHY, and JOSHUA A. BICKEL Associated Press
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Shock has turned into grief across Texas where at least 120 people died from flash floods and more were missing as the search for victims moved methodically along endless miles of rivers and rubble Thursday.
Photos of those who have died along with a colorful array of flowers and candles now decorate a fence in Hill Country — a growing tribute that reflects the enormity of the disaster in the region.
Several hundred people gathered for a worship ceremony at a high school stadium in Texas on Wednesday evening to remember the at least 120 people who died in the catastrophic flash floods over the July Fourth holiday, as well the many still missing. (AP Video: Stephen Smith)
The victims include three friends who had gathered for the July Fourth weekend, 8-year-old sisters who were at summer camp and a 91-year-old grandmother known for her sharp wit.
More than 170 people have been reported missing, most in Kerr County, where nearly 100 victims have been recovered. The death toll remained at 120 Thursday, nearly a week since the floods first hit.
Authorities say they have carefully gone over the list of those unaccounted for, but those numbers are often tough to pin down in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.
The unrelenting power of the floods forced families to make unnerving escapes with little time to spare in the middle of the night. One woman recounted how she and others, including a toddler, first climbed into an attic and then onto a roof where they heard screams and watched vehicles float past. Photos and videos captured their ordeal.
The aftermath
More than 2,000 local, state and federal workers were involved in the search for victims. Stifling heat and mounds of trees, hunks of lumber and trash made the task more difficult.
At a small shopping center damaged in the floods, people piled debris gathered from the rivers. Officials hope to eventually set aside personal items so residents find their possessions.
A disaster recovery center managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state of Texas and the Small Business Administration opened Thursday at the First Baptist Church in Kerrville, offering survivors a hub to register for federal assistance and other services. Only a few people passed through the quiet church gymnasium in the late afternoon.
“The word’s not out yet, the first few days are always slow,” said Laurie Fried, long term recovery specialist for The Salvation Army in Texas.
A row of brooms and buckets filled with cleaning supplies stood behind the nonprofit Community Council of South Central Texas’ table, where staff were distributing grocery store gift cards for income-qualified households and offering financial assistance for hotel stays and utility bills.
The cleaning kits were for those mucking out flooded homes, but the council’s community service coordinator, Nina Ruiz, said they had only passed out about seven of them that day. “A lot of the people don’t have homes to clean up,” she said.
On Wednesday, hundreds prayed, wept and held one another at a prayer service, among the first of many somber gatherings to come in the weeks ahead.
“Our communities were struck with tragedy literally in the darkness,” said Wyatt Wentrcek, a youth minister.
David Garza drove more than an hour to support his loved ones.
“I’m from here, and I was here in the ’78 flood and the ’87 flood,” Garza said. “I just wanted to be a part of this.”
Some at the service wore green ribbons for the girls from Camp Mystic, the century-old Christian summer camp where at least 27 campers and counselors died.
Parents of children who were at the many summer camps in Hill Country have credited the teenage counselors with ushering campers to safety and helping keep them calm during the chaos.
Calls for better flood preparation in the future
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called on state lawmakers to approve funding for new warning systems and emergency communications in flood prone areas when the Legislature meets later this month. Abbott also asked for financial relief for the response and recovery efforts.
“We must ensure better preparation for such events in the future,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
Public officials in the area have come under repeated criticism amid questions about the timeline of what happened and why widespread warnings were not sounded and more preparations were not made.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha has said those questions will be answered after the victims are recovered.
Local leaders have talked for years about the need for a flood warning system, but concerns about costs and noise led to missed opportunities to put up sirens.
President Donald Trump has pledged to provide whatever relief Texas needs to recover and is planning to visit the state Friday.
Polls taken before the floods show Americans largely believe the federal government should play a major role in preparing for and responding to natural disasters, which are becoming a growing worry. On Tuesday, a deluge in New Mexico triggered flash floods that killed three people.
The devastation in Texas stretched from Hill Country all the way to just outside the state’s capital. At least 15 people died in the Austin area and adjacent counties.
Just north of Austin, floodwaters from the San Gabriel River swamped two RV parks in Georgetown.
Teri Hoffman watched the water lift up her camper with her two dogs inside.
“The camper just kind of goes over on its side and starts floating. And then all the other campers just started crashing into it,” she said.
Rescuers were able to save the dogs and she managed to dig out the last picture she has of her late mother. Everything else from the RV where she lived with her husband and children is gone, she said.
“I couldn’t look at it,” Hoffman said. “I had to walk away.”
___
Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; Hallie Golden in Seattle; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; contributed to this report.
Wall Street added to its recent milestones Thursday as the market closed at an all-time high after Delta Air Lines kicked off earnings season with a solid outlook for the rest of 2025, spurring an airline stock rally.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, inching past the record it set last week after a better-than-expected June jobs report.
The Nasdaq composite edged up 0.1%, enough of a gain to notch a new high for the second day in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.4% higher.
Delta surged 12%, bringing other airlines along with it, after beating Wall Street’s revenue and profit targets. The Atlanta airline also gave a more optimistic view for the remaining summer travel season than it had just a couple months ago.
The airline and other major U.S. carriers had pulled or slashed their forecasts in the spring, citing macroeconomic uncertainty amid President Donald Trump’s tariff rollouts, which have consumers feeling uneasy about spending on travel.
“Companies are becoming more confident in the range of outcomes for tariffs,” said Michael Antonelli, market strategist at Baird. “Companies are starting to understand what the playing field looks like a little bit better, even though we continue to have these kind of tariff announcements that get bounced back and forth.”
Delta’s encouraging report boosted the entire airline sector. United jumped 14.3%, American climbed 12.7%, JetBlue gained 7.8% and Southwest finished 8.1% higher.
The market has been steadying following a downbeat start to the week as the Trump administration renewed its push to use threats of higher tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. in hopes of securing new trade agreements with countries around the globe.
Wednesday had been initially set as a deadline by Trump for countries to make deals with the U.S. or face heavy increases in tariffs. But with just two trade deals announced since April, one with the United Kingdom and one with Vietnam, the window for negotiations has now been extended to Aug. 1. That’s given Wall Street a breather just in time for the start of corporate earnings season.
Wall Street analysts predict that companies in the S&P 500 will deliver 5% growth in second-quarter earnings, according to FactSet. That would mark the lowest rate since the fourth quarter of 2023.
Conagra Brands fell 4.4% Thursday after the maker of Slim Jim, Swiss Miss and other food products reported earnings and revenue that fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. The company also lowered its earnings outlook, saying it expects continued cost increases due to tariffs.
Helen of Troy, the company behind Hydro Flask water bottles and OXO kitchen tools, sank 22.7% after its latest quarterly results came in below Wall Street’s forecasts. The company said it would not be providing a fiscal year 2026 outlook, citing uncertainty over tariff policy and the economy.
Shares in AZZ rose 5.5% after the electrical equipment maker’s latest quarterly earnings topped analysts’ forecasts.
Earnings season shifts into high gear next week with JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup among the big banks due to report their results on Tuesday.
Beyond airlines, most of the sectors in the S&P 500 notched gains Thursday, led by banks and consumer-focused companies. JPMorgan and McDonald’s each rose 1.8%.
Technology and communication services stocks were the only laggards. Autodesk fell 6.9% and Netflix ended 2.9% lower.
Shares of WK Kellogg vaulted 30.6% after Italian candy maker Ferrero agreed to acquire the cereal company in a deal valued at roughly $3.1 billion. The transaction includes the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of WK Kellogg Co.’s portfolio of breakfast cereals across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.
Shares in mining company Freeport-McMoRan rose 3.6% after Trump said a 50% tariff on copper imports would take effect on Aug. 1. The price of copper rose 1.9% to $5.59 per pound.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 17.20 points to 6,280.46. The Dow added 192.34 points to 44,650.64. The Nasdaq gained 19.33 points to 20,630.66.
Bond yields mostly rose, although the yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 4.34%.
European stock indexes closed mixed Thursday following an uneven finish in Asian markets.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.4%, weighed down by selling of exporters’ shares amid the yen’s appreciation, which cuts profits from exports, and dampened sentiment because of the lack of progress in the Japan-U.S. trade talks.
APEX, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s first standalone children’s hospital will be built in a bedroom community near the state capital, the project’s health systems announced Thursday, creating a campus estimated to bring 8,000 jobs to the area.
UNC Health and Duke Health announced in January an agreement to jointly build the proposed 500-bed pediatric hospital and linked facilities in the state’s Research Triangle region, which includes Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.
At that time, the specific location wasn’t finalized. But leaders of the health systems said hwThursday that the “North Carolina Children’s” project will be constructed about 20 miles (32.19 kilometers) southwest of downtown Raleigh in the Wake County town of Apex. Apex has a population of 77,000, which is already surging in population thanks to the region’s strong technology economy.
More than 15 potential sites in several counties were considered, Duke Health CEO Dr. Craig Albanese said at an Apex news conference.20
The 230-acre (93.1-hectare) campus, located near a regional transportation interchange, will also include a children’s outpatient care center, over 100 behavioral health beds and a research and education center operated by Duke University and University of North Carolina medical schools.
The campus is poised to be integrated into a long-discussed mixed-use development location called Veridea that will include thousands of new homes, retail, dining, office and research space, as well as a new Wake Technical Community College campus.
“This campus will create a brighter, healthier future for generations of children and adolescents across North Carolina and the Southeast, and we’re thrilled to have Apex as our home and partner,” UNC Heatlh CEO Dr. Wesley Burks said in a news release.
A groundbreaking for the hospital campus is now expected in 2027, with construction anticipated to take six years. North Carolina Children’s Health also issued on Thursday a request for information from potential design and construction contractors for the project.
There are children’s hospitals already in North Carolina, including those operated by the University of North Carolina and Duke University health systems that are attached to their main campuses in the Triangle.
The Apex location “will ensure that the Triangle remains a hub and a destination for the best pediatric scientists, teachers and clinicians — convenient to both medical school campuses,” said Dr. Mary Klotman, dean of the Duke University medical school and a Duke Health executive.
The new children’s hospital agreed to acquire a portion of the Veridea land, which is owned by a business partnership between the North Carolina state retirement system and the land developers, according to the State Treasurer’s Office, which administers the system.
State Treasurer Brad Briner said at the news conference that the land sale is a win for everyone involved, including government retirees and the pension system, “making a modest profit and unlocking more value in the land that is adjacent.”
“Above all, it’s a win for the 11 million North Carolinians who deserve world-class pediatric care right here at home,” he added.
The health systems have said the hospital campus project could cost from $2 billion to $3 billion, with a massive private fundraising effort ahead.
The project has already received $320 million from state legislators. The next state budget, still being negotiated by House and Senate Republicans that ultimately would head to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s desk, also could contain more project funds.
Stein said in an interview Thursday that beyond the economic opportunity the project will spark, “I’m really excited about what the children’s hospital means for children of North Carolina who are sick and in need of the best, most sophisticated, advanced medical interventions to live long, healthy lives.”
Joe Coleman, a lanky right-hander who won 142 games in 15 major league seasons and was an All-Star in 1972 with Detroit, died Wednesday morning, his son said. He was 78.
Casey Coleman said his father died in his sleep in Jamestown, Tennessee.
The son and father of major leaguers, Coleman became the No. 3 pick in baseball’s inaugural amateur draft in 1965 when he was selected by the Washington Senators. His father, also named Joe — who pitched in the majors from 1942-55 — negotiated a club-record $75,000 signing bonus.
The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Coleman became the first player to reach the majors after being drafted when he debuted for the Senators on Sept. 28, 1965. He threw a four-hitter to beat the Kansas City Athletics 6-1.
After the 1970 season, Coleman was traded to Detroit in a deal that sent Denny McLain to Washington. He enjoyed his greatest individual success with the Tigers, going 88-73 with a 3.82 ERA from 1971-76.
In 1971, he went 20-9 with a 3.15 ERA after recovering from a skull fracture that hospitalized him for two weeks. He was an All-Star the following season and made his only postseason appearance, striking out a then-playoff-record 14 batters to shut out the Oakland Athletics in Game 3 of the five-game American League championship series. The Tigers lost the series 3-2 and Oakland went on to beat Cincinnati in the World Series.
Coleman’s strikeout record stood for 25 years. Baltimore’s Mike Mussina fanned 15 in the 1997 ALCS against Cleveland.
Coleman also pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final season, he made 10 relief appearance for the 1979 Pirates, who went on to win the World Series.
For his career, he was 142-135 with a 3.70 ERA and 1,728 strikeouts in 484 appearances (340 starts).
After retiring as a player, Coleman worked as a pitching and bullpen coach for the California and Anaheim Angels, St. Louis Cardinals and Seattle Mariners along with several minor-league clubs.
“He was a good man with a really good heart,” Casey Coleman said. “Everywhere I went in professional baseball, I met pitchers he coached. Many gave him credit for making it to the big leagues.”
Casey Coleman pitched in 58 major league games for the Cubs and Kansas City from 2010-14.
Born in Boston, Joe Coleman graduated from Natick High. He attended Ted Williams’ baseball camps, where he learned how to throw a curveball and slider.
In addition to Casey, Coleman is survived by his wife, Donna, daughter, Kristen, and three grandchildren.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Former Olympic wrestler and MMA star Ben Askren, who has been hospitalized in Wisconsin after a severe case of pneumonia, said in a post on social media Wednesday that he had undergone a double lung transplant and is in recovery.
Askren said during the Instagram video that he recalls very little of what happened over a monthlong stretch from late May through the first two days of July. His wife, Amy, had said in a series of social media posts that Askren was put on a ventilator in June and placed on the donor list for a lung transplant on June 24.
“No recollection, zero idea, no idea what happened,” Askren said of most of the past six weeks. “I just read through my wife’s journal. It’s like a movie. It’s ridiculous. I only died four times, where the ticker stopped for about 20 seconds.”
Askren said he lost about 50 pounds during the 45-day stretch.
“The thing that was most impeccable to me was all the love I felt,” Askren said. “It was almost like I got to have my own funeral.”
The 40-year-old Askren was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but has lived primarily in Wisconsin, where he runs a youth wrestling academy. He won back-to-back NCAA titles at Missouri and competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics for the U.S. before moving into MMA, where he fought for Bellator and ONE Championship before moving into the UFC.
Askren retired from MMA after a loss to Demian Maia in October 2019. He had a record of 19-2 with one no contest.
Askren made a brief return to combat sports in April 2021, when he fought social media star Jake Paul in a boxing match. Paul won by technical knockout in the first round of a fight that sold about 500,000 on pay-per-view.
JOLANDA DI SAVOIA, Italy (AP) — An unusual pest is ravaging crops and irking farmers in northeastern Italy: the flamingo.
Flocks of these relatively recent immigrants have set their hungry sights on the flooded fields that produce rice for risotto in Ferrara province, between Venice and Ravenna. The long-legged birds aren’t interested in the seedlings; rather, flamingos use their webbed feet to stir up the soil and snatch mollusks, algae or insects from the shallow water.
Rice is collateral damage.
Farmers have started patroling day and night in a bid to scare the birds away. They honk their trucks’ horns, bang barrels and even fire small gas cannons that make thunderous booms. Mostly, the noise just sends them flying to another nearby rice paddy to be trampled underfoot.
Enrico Fabbri, a local grower, said he is discouraged after seeing production losses of as much as 90% in some of his planted areas.
“These are new things that have never happened before. You invest so much time and care into preparing everything,” Fabbri, 63, said beside one of his paddies on the outskirts of Jolanda di Savoia. “Then, just as the crop begins to grow, it’s like having a newborn child taken away. That’s what it feels like.”
The flamingos appear to have come from their prior nesting grounds in the nearby Comacchio Valleys within a reserve on the coast, just south of where the Po River, Italy’s longest, flows into the Adriatic Sea.
The birds have been there since 2000, after drought in southern Spain sent them searching for nesting grounds further east, according to Roberto Tinarelli, ornithologist and president of the Emilia-Romagna Ornithologists Association.
Previously, they had been confined to lakes in North Africa, parts of Spain and a bit of France’s Camargue region, Tinarelli, 61, said beside a pond in Bentivolgio, a town near Bologna.
There have been no studies yet to determine why these flamingos started seeking food further inland, where farmers flood their fields from late spring to early summer as a means of germinating newly planted rice seeds. Until the paddies are drained after a few weeks, the flamingos are a threat.
“Obviously, we are looking for answers from those who have to deal with the problem. From an environmental point of view, all this is beautiful, but we must keep in mind that rice cultivation is among the most expensive, extensive crops,” said Massimo Piva, a 57-year-old rice grower and vice-president of the local farmers’ confederation.
“They are beautiful animals, it’s their way of moving and behaving, but the problem is trying to limit their presence as much as possible,” Piva said.
Tinarelli, the ornithologist, suggested several solutions to fend off flamingos that are more humane and effective than the clamorous efforts currently employed: surrounding paddies with tall trees or hedges and, even better, reducing water levels of freshly planted paddies to between 2 and 4 inches (5 and 10 centimeters), instead of 12 inches (30 centimeters).
“This is sufficient for the rice to grow, but decidedly less attractive to flamingos, which must splash around in the water,” he said.
By DEE-ANN DURBIN and MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writers
Italian confectioner Ferrero, known for brands like Nutella and Kinder, is buying the century-old U.S. cereal company WK Kellogg in a deal valued at approximately $3.1 billion.
The Ferrero Group said Thursday it will pay $23 for each Kellogg share. The transaction includes the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of WK Kellogg Co.’s portfolio of breakfast cereals across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.
WK Kellogg’s shares were up 30% in premarket trading Thursday.
Kellogg, which was founded in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1906, makes Fruit Loops, Special K, Frosted Flakes and Rice Krispies.
The current company was formed in 2023, when Kellogg’s snack brands like Cheez-Its and Pringles were spun into a separate company called Kellanova. M&M’s maker Mars Inc. announced last year that it planned to buy Kellanova in a deal worth nearly $30 billion.
Ferrero Group, which was founded in Italy in 1946, has been trying to expand its U.S. footprint. In 2018 it bought Nestle’s U.S. candy brands, including Butterfinger, Nerds and SweeTarts. And in 2022 it bought Wells Enterprises, the maker of ice cream brands like Blue Bunny and Halo Top.
The deal, which still needs approval from Kellogg shareholders, is expected to close in the second half of the year. Once the transaction is complete, Kellogg’s stock will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange and the company will become a Ferrero subsidiary.
This creamy spread is a Southern classic that comes together in moments. Think sharp cheddar’s tang, creamy richness, and sweet pimentos all mixed into perfection. Great on crackers, veggies, or sandwiches and always a favorite at gatherings.
Ingredients
2 cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup mayonnaise
4 oz jar diced pimentos, drained
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Mix everything together In a large bowl, combine the cheddar, cream cheese, mayonnaise, pimentos, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne if you’re adding a little heat. Stir until well blended .
Taste and season Give it a taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. If you want a looser, creamier texture, add a little more mayo.
Chill before serving Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour. Chilling helps the flavors come together and firms up the spread.
Serve it up Scoop it onto crackers, spread it on sandwiches, or pile it on celery sticks. It’s great at parties, picnics, or just for a weekend snack.
By SEAN MURPHY, NADIA LATHAN and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press
HUNT, Texas (AP) — In the frantic hours after a wall of water engulfed camps and homes in Texas, a police officer who was trapped himself spotted dozens of people stranded on roofs and waded out to bring them to safety, a fellow officer said Wednesday.
Another off-duty officer tied a garden hose around his waist so he could reach two people clinging to a tree above swirling floodwaters, Kerrville officer Jonathan Lamb said, describing another harrowing rescue.
The search is continuing on the grounds of Camp Mystic as more than 160 people are believed to be missing in Texas days after a destructive wall of water killed over 100 people. (AP Video)
“This tragedy, as horrific as it is, could have been so much worse,” Lamb told a news conference, crediting first responders and volunteers with saving lives and knocking on doors to evacuate residents during the flash floods on the July Fourth holiday.
More than 160 people still are believed to be missing, and at least 118 have died in the floods that laid waste to the Hill Country region of Texas. The large number of missing people suggests that the full extent of the catastrophe is still unclear five days after the disaster.
The floods are now the deadliest from inland flooding in the U.S. since 1976, when Colorado’s Big Thompson Canyon flooded, killing 144 people, said Bob Henson, a meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections.
Crews used backhoes and their bare hands Wednesday to dig through piles of debris that stretched for miles along the Guadalupe River in the search of missing people.
“We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for,” Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday. “Know this also: There very likely could be more added to that list.”
Officials face backlash for lack of preparations and warnings
Public officials in the area have come under repeated criticism amid questions about the timeline of what happened and why widespread warnings were not sounded and more preparations were not made.
“Those questions are going to be answered,” Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. “I believe those questions need to be answered, to the families of the loved ones, to the public.”
But he said the priority for now is recovering victims. “We’re not running. We’re not going to hide from anything,” the sheriff said.
The governor called on state lawmakers to approve new flood warning systems and strengthen emergency communications in flood prone areas throughout the state when the Legislature meets in a special session that Abbott had already called to address other issues starting July 21. Abbott also called on lawmakers to provide financial relief for response and recovery efforts from the storms.
“We must ensure better preparation for such events in the future,” Abbott said in a statement.
Local leaders have talked for years about the need for a flood warning system, but concerns about costs and noise led to missed opportunities to put up sirens.
Raymond Howard, a city council member in Ingram, said it was “unfathomable” that county officials did not act.
“This is lives. This is families,” he said. “This is heartbreaking.”
Number of missing has soared
A day earlier, the governor announced that about 160 people have been reported missing in Kerr County, where searchers already have found more than 90 bodies.
Officials have been seeking more information about those who were in the Hill Country, a popular tourist destination, during the holiday weekend but did not register at a camp or a hotel and may have been in the area without many people knowing, Abbott said.
The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 campers and counselors died. Officials said five campers and one counselor have still not been found.
Just two days before the flooding, Texas inspectors signed off on the camp’s emergency planning. But five years of inspection reports released to The Associated Press did not provide any details about how campers would be evacuated.
Challenging search for the dead
With almost no hope of finding anyone alive, search crews and volunteers say they are focused on bringing the families of the missing some closure.
Crews fanned out in air boats, helicopters and on horseback. They used excavators and their hands, going through layer by layer, with search dogs sniffing for any sign of buried bodies.
They looked in trees and in the mounds below their feet. They searched inside crumpled pickup trucks and cars, painting them with a large X, much like those marked on homes after a hurricane.
More than 2,000 volunteers have offered to lend a hand in Kerr County alone, the sheriff said.
How long the search will continue was impossible to predict given the number of people unaccounted for and the miles to cover.
Shannon Ament wore knee-high rubber boots and black gloves as she rummaged through debris in front of her rental property in Kerr County. A high school soccer coach is one of the many people she knows who are still missing.
“We need support. I’m not going to say thoughts and prayers because I’m sick of that,” she said. “We don’t need to be blamed for who voted for who. This was a freak of nature — a freak event.”
Trump plans to survey damage Friday
President Donald Trump has pledged to provide whatever relief Texas needs to recover. He plans to visit the state Friday.
Polls taken before the floods show Americans largely believe the federal government should play a major role in preparing for and responding to natural disasters.
Catastrophic flooding is a growing worry. On Tuesday, a deluge in New Mexico triggered flash floods that killed three people.
Lathan reported from Ingram, and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.
