Texas flooding latest: Two sisters among 51 dead as desperate search for campers swept away enters third day

President Donald Trump said his administration is working “on the ground” in Texas to support the state amid devastating floods.

“The Trump Administration is working with State and Local Officials on the ground in Texas in response to the tragic flooding that took place yesterday,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Our Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, will be there shortly. 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,” he added. “ GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!”

Tonia Fucci, a Pennsylvania resident visiting her grandmother for the Independence Day weekend, woke early on Friday to the sound of heavy rain “coming down in buckets.”

“It’s indescribable, the sounds, of how loud they were, which turned out to be … the massive cypress trees that came down along the river,” she told a Reuters reporter in an interview the next day.

Ms Fucci filmed on her phone a torrent of muddy water flooding the road to her grandmother’s house and two recreational vehicles in a parking lot, with their wheels submerged in water.

“I’m still in shock today,” Fucci told Reuters news agency. “There’s so many missing children and missing people. You just want them to be found for the sake of the families. But, you know, it’s not going to be a good ending… There’s no way people could have survived the swiftness of the water.”

Ms Fucci said she had received National Weather alerts on her phone hours after the flood had already hit. The residents of the town had to rely on one another, as they ran to their neighbors to see who needed help before rescue teams arrived.

“Something I’ve never seen before. You knew it was tragedy,” Ms Fucci said.

Representative August Pfluger shared that he and his wife were reunited with their two daughters, who were attending Camp Mystic.

“Camille, Vivian and I are now reunited with Caroline and Juliana who were evacuated from Camp Mystic,” he wrote. “The last day has brought unimaginable grief to many families and we mourn with them as well as holding out hope for survivors.”

Texas officials are questioning the actions of the National Weather Service leading up to Friday’s deadly floods, as fellow meteorologists defend the agency.

Some state and local officials say the NWS didn’t provide accurate forecasts ahead of Friday’s destructive flooding, months after President Donald Trump’s administration gutted the agency and experts warned forecasts could suffer.

A 62-year-old woman was found dead amid floodwaters in San Angelo, Texas.

Tanya Burwick’s body was recovered several blocks from her submerged car, the San Angelo Police Department said.

Fifty-two people have been killed by the disastrous flooding in central Texas, according to a new tally Saturday evening by The New York Times.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said President Donald Trump is “heartbroken” over the Texas flooding.

“Know that President Trump is absolutely heartbroken by what’s happened here in Texas,” Noem said.

“Relief will be coming,” Noem added, noting that Trump has indicated he’ll accept Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s request for federal aid.

Texas resident Carl Jeter told CNN he helped rescue a woman swept away in the Guadalupe River as heavy storms battered the state.

The woman was stuck in the Guadalupe River for four hours before pulling herself up onto a tree, Jeter told CNN.

He called the police to rescue her, but when they didn’t arrive within 30 minutes, he sprang into action.

Jeter said he got into his car and flagged down a nearby rescue officer. Soon afterward, a water rescue team helped get the woman to safety.

She then waited inside Jeter’s home until a family member picked her up.

“It’s a true miracle,” Jeter told CNN. “We’ve been on the river for a long time and that’s not something that is survivable.”