The death toll from the floods that hit the US South state of Texas has now approached 80 dead and is almost certain to keep getting heavier, local authorities said yesterday, as hopes of locating some ten children, who are still missing, fade.

Donald Trump announced he would “probably” go to the scene on Friday. “This is a disaster we haven’t seen in 100 years and it’s horrible to see what happened,” the Republican told reporters in New Jersey before boarding a presidential jet to return to Washington.

The US president, moreover, dismissed any link between the funding and staffing cuts at the National Weather Service and the extremely heavy toll. “I don’t think so,” he said when asked if he thought there would be value in rehiring some of the staff who were laid off.

Residents complained over the weekend that there were insufficient warnings about flood risks.

Ker County alone, which suffered the hardest hit, is mourning 68 deaths, “40 adults and 28 children,” Larry Letha, its sheriff, said during a news conference.

Among some 750 children who participated in a girls’ camp organized by a riverside Christian collective, ten girls remain missing, as does a chaperone, Sheriff Litha explained.

Added to the fatalities in that county are 10 deaths counted in neighboring ones, Texas state governor Greg Abbott, said during a news conference.

“Across the state, in flood-affected areas, we have identified 41 people who are missing,” he noted, adding that it was likely the actual number was higher because many vacationers had camped over the long weekend of the American national holiday.

“We will see the toll go up today and tomorrow” as more bodies of victims are found, warned Texas public safety director Freeman Martin.

The flash flooding was caused by torrential rains in the central part of the state early Friday morning, which raised the level of the river beside which the girls’ camp was located by eight metres in 45 minutes. The precipitation reached 300 millimeters per hour, one-third of the annual rainfall as a rule.

Donald Trump, who sent his administration’s Homeland Security secretary, Christy Noem, to the scene, signed an executive order declaring a disaster to offer Texas federal resources.

Helicopters and drones are involved in the search, while the National Guard and Coast Guard went to reinforce the forces operating.

U.S. Pope Leo East yesterday expressed his “sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, especially their girls.”

The flood warning was in effect until 19:00 (local time; 03:00 GMT).

Sudden floods, which cause torrential rains on parched ground that cannot absorb large amounts of water, are not a rare occurrence. But, according to the scientific community, anthropogenic climate change is making more frequent and intense events like floods, droughts, and heat waves.