The death toll from the July Fourth flash flood that ravaged a swath of central Texas Hill Country rose on Tuesday to at least 109, many of them children, as search teams pressed on through mounds of mud-encrusted debris looking for scores of people still missing.

Gov. Greg Abbott vowed Tuesday to continue rescue efforts in the flood-ravaged Hill Country “until every missing person is accounted for”.

Texas police described some of the rescues they conducted after flash floods engulfed camps and homes in the state's Hill Country.

Officials are being pressed about their response and whether there could have been a better warning system.