(The Hill) – Mexican officials are lending a hand to the nation’s neighbor across the border as Texas reels from devastating floods that killed dozens of people over the July 4 holiday weekend.
The Mexican city of Acuña — which is across the Rio Grande from Texas and more than 140 miles from the most devastated flooding areas — said in a social media post on Tuesday that it has sent a rescue team from its civil protection and firefighting units to Kerr County, Texas, to assist teams from the U.S. with search and rescue efforts.
Posts have also circulated on social media of volunteers from Mexico assisting with the disaster response.
More than 20 inches of rain fell in and around Texas’s Hill Country overnight Friday, flooding and washing away structures in the area. At least 100 people have been killed, including more than two dozen children and counselors from the all-girls Camp Mystic. Authorities said Tuesday that 19 adult and seven children’s bodies have been recovered but not yet identified.
“It’s very tragic whenever you see human life, but to see a child and that loss of life is extremely tragic,” Texas Game Warden Lt. Colonel Ben Baker said during a Tuesday update.
Nine members of an Acuña water rescue team and four members of a Mexico-based non-profit called Foundation 911 travelled to Texas on Sunday to assist with rescue and recovery efforts, according to the update on Facebook from the city’s emergency leaders.
They add to state and local authorities, as well as federal assistance from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and aid from private volunteer groups.
President Trump, who signed a disaster declaration for the area on Sunday, is set to travel to the Lone Star State later this week.
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