Downed power lines, flooded roads and spotty cellphone service were among the challenges rescue workers in Texas were facing on Friday as they searched for survivors of a deadly flood along the Guadalupe River.
As many as 500 emergency personnel from numerous local and state agencies were deployed to the affected area on Friday. They were using 14 helicopters and several boats to search for people who survived the flood and to guide ground teams, officials said.
“We have plenty of resources on the ground,” Freeman F. Martin, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told reporters on Friday afternoon.
Officials said they had received offers from residents who wanted to assist with the search. But they urged people to stay home and warned residents in the area to refrain from launching drones or using private helicopters, saying that doing so could endanger rescue workers.
“We don’t need any more first responders,” Mr. Martin said. “We don’t want anybody to self deploy.”
Mr. Martin said that emergency workers had managed to reach people who were stranded but safe in several locations in the flood zone. Officials were waiting for road conditions to improve before evacuating them.
“We’re able to bring food and water to them,” he said. “It’s just taking time to get them out of there.”
Mr. Martin said that as of 3:30 p.m. on Friday, about 25 roads in the area were impassable. He said that people should not try to drive or wade through flooded areas.
“If you can’t tell how deep it is, the best advice is to stay home,” he said.
Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy.
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