AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Hopes are dimming for finding survivors from the flash floods that devastated Central Texas on July 4.

At least 95 people were killed in some of the deadliest floods to hit this country in decades.

That includes 28 children.

More than 850 people have been rescued since the floods first hit, but dozens are still unaccounted for, including at least 10 young girls.

William Brangham begins our coverage with this report.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Days after the deluge, the Guadalupe River was quiet today, but the damage it wrought over the weekend is visible everywhere.

What once were entire campgrounds along its banks gone.

Locals are still coming to grips with the terror they experienced.

JULIA HATFIELD, Flood Survivor: There was a little boy who started floating downstream, and he was screaming, asking for help.

I was about to jump in and my husband had to hold me back.

He said: "You're going to go too and there's nothing you can do if you jump in."

I didn't know how I was going to live with that.

And, thankfully, by the end of the day yesterday, I saw his face online and he had been rescued.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Officials this morning said the huge search for other survivors is still under way.

DALTON RICE, Kerrville, Texas, City Manager: This is a massive field that is happening.

And, again, this is unprecedented flood events.

So we are still currently in the primary search phase.

JOE HERRING JR., Mayor of Kerrville, Texas: This will be a rough week.

Primary search continues and we remain hopeful every foot, every mile, every bend of the river.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Through the weekend and into today, hundreds of volunteers from ex-military to local civilians, as well as state and federal teams, joined the effort.

DANIEL RAMIREZ, Search and Rescue Volunteer: Seeing all the devastation and the trees and the clothing, the random bits of flotsam floating around the river really hits home.

So that gives quite a somber feeling to just be out here seeing it in person, rather than just on the news.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The floods tore through the Texas Hill Country on Friday the 4th.

An overnight downpour caused the Guadalupe to rise a staggering 26 feet in a very short period.

This time-lapse shows how suddenly the waters rose, swallowing a causeway in a matter of minutes.

LORENA GUILLEN, Kerrville Business Owner: If you had seen what July 3 looked like, you would never guess that this was coming that night.

Cars were floating away with the lights on.

You could see the lights and you can hear honking.

And there was like not one or two, but there were dozens of vehicles just floating away.

And I was just -- it was just too much.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This area is home to a number of children's summer camps.

For a century, girls have flocked the Camp Mystic on the banks of the river.

Today, the camp confirmed 27 members of its tight-knit community were killed, mostly young campers, like 8-year-old Sarah Marsh, as well as mystic's longtime director, Dick Eastland.

He was reportedly swept away trying to rescue children.

Other victims include 68-year-old Jane Ragsdale.

She devoted her life to another nearby girls' camp, Heart O' the Hills.

The camp had been between sessions on Friday when the flood hit.

And 62-year-old Tanya Burwick, whose car got caught in the torrent on her way to work.

Her son said she had a heart of gold.

And 27-year-old Julian Ryan was killed trying to escape his trailer home.

His fiance, mother and 6-year-old son survived.

Questions are swirling about preparedness and why more urgent flooding alerts didn't come sooner.

The flood-prone Kerr County had contemplated a warning system, complete with river gauges and sirens, for nearly a decade, but some local officials said costs have always gotten in the way.

Others have blamed cuts made by the Trump administration to the National Weather Service.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Texas is grieving right now.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz, whose own kids have gone to camp in the area, rejected that allegation, noting that the National Weather Service had issued warnings in advance of the floods.

SEN. TED CRUZ: After we come through search-and-rescue, after we come through the process of rebuilding, there will naturally be a period of retrospection, where you look back and say, OK, what exactly transpired, what was the timeline, and what could have been done differently to prevent this loss of life.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: President Trump said he will likely visit the flood zone on Friday.

And forecasters say even more rain is on its way to Central Texas this week.

With dozens still missing, officials fear the death toll is almost certain to rise.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham.

AMNA NAWAZ: For more on the latest in Texas, we're joined by Tony Plohetski with The Austin-American Statesman and KVUE.

He's been covering this disaster.

Tony, welcome back, and thanks for joining us.

As you heard in William's reporting, some of the biggest questions remain the accuracy of the forecasts and the effectiveness of a warning system, why more people weren't evacuated sooner?

What kind of answers are you getting from officials on those?

TONY PLOHETSKI, The Austin-American Statesman: With regard to the warnings, there's apparently something of a divide, even between the meteorological community about whether or not the forecast adequately prepared the public and notified the public once this emergency began unfolding.

Some meteorologists say that the warnings and the watches that were in place did not adequately inform the public that flash flooding to this extent was possible.

Yet, at the same time, others point to the fact that a flash flood watch was posted well in advance of this flooding event, and that several hours before the Guadalupe River began to rise and overflow its banks, that there was in fact a flash flood warning.

They say that should have and could have adequately notified the public that they needed to get to higher ground urgently.

AMNA NAWAZ: I know you're going to continue to cover those questions in the days and weeks ahead.

In the meantime, I know you have also been reporting on some of the deaths of people lost local to your area in and around Austin.

That includes two little girls named Linnie and Mary, who were both killed, both 8 years old, both campers at Camp Mystic.

What can you tell us about them and their families right now?

TONY PLOHETSKI: Amna, Well, this camp drew families from all over the state of Texas, Dallas, Houston.

Many Austin families sent their children for generations, multiple generations, to Camp Mystic.

Outside my window right now, I look and I see a big green bow that is tied around an oak tree, so many families in the city of Austin and across the state of Texas had such close bonds to the camp and the people who participated in this camp.

Those little girls whose families I have been in contact with are among the two of them, two of the children who perished in this flash flood event.

And, as you can imagine, the grief is just running throughout this entire community and throughout the state of Texas this evening.

AMNA NAWAZ: There's another piece of this that we're picking up on here, Tony, that, for all the focus on the camp, it's shone a light on how important camp culture is in the Texas Hill Country.

As you mentioned, it's a community in and of itself, very closely bound together and how devastating the loss has been because of that culture.

What should we understand about that?

TONY PLOHETSKI: So, Amna, the Texas Hill Country is one of the most cherished parts of the state of Texas.

And it is aptly named, because it has rolling hills, waterways, anchored in many ways by the Guadalupe River.

And, across time, different camps have sprung up along the river and also along the lakes that are in the Texas Hill Country as well.

So there is a deep culture, a deep love of the camping experience among many families who send their children to those camps.

And I think that the fact that culture is so strong, that love of the experience is so strong, I think that also is just deepening the tragedy among these close-knit families, literally thousands of them across the state.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Tony Plohetski of The Austin-American Statesman joining us tonight.

Tony, thank you so much.

TONY PLOHETSKI: Thanks for having me.