Image source, Getty Images

Abbott responds to a question about whether Texas state officials had prior warning about the flood.

He says the state knew there were a possible serious flooding event days in advance, and that they repositioned resources in response.

There was a flash flood warning, he acknowledges, but we "didn't know the magnitude of the storm".

No one knew that it would lead to a "30ft high tsunami wall of water," he says.

A reporter asks Texas Governor Greg Abbott: "Who is to blame for this enormous death toll?"

"That's the word choice of losers," Abbott responds.

He says football teams make mistakes; champion teams are the ones who don't "point fingers" and talk solutions.

General Thomas Suelzer of the Texas National Guard is now addressing reporters.

He describes the "miles and miles of massive devastation" he saw when surveying the scene after the flash floods.

He says search crews are still on the ground, and the effort includes Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters with rescue hoists looking for survivors.

He says they received four more Black Hawks from Arkansas, which raises the number of helicopters to 13.

He adds that Reaper drones have also been used for search operations in the flood affected regions.

Director of Texas public safety Freeman Martin is now speaking.

He mentions the same numbers as Governor Abbott: 161 missing and 109 dead.

He says 258 responders from various agencies have been assigned to this area in Kerrville to help with search and rescue.

The number of missing was originally several hundred people, and it reduced to the current 161 as people were found, he says.

"There's a lot of work to be done," he says.

The Speaker of the Texas House Dustin Burrows is now speaking.

"I know there's not any adequate words we can express to share our care and concern," he says, adding that everyone is thinking of the victims and the affected communities.

But there is a silver lining, he continues - that people from all over the state are coming together in the wake of the floods and are helping with rescue and relief operations.

"We know the people of this state are resilient," he says.

Image source, Getty Images

Abbott says 161 people are known to be missing because of the floods.

He says it's very likely more could be added to that list.

He encouraged anyone to report people who are unaccounted for.

Governor Abbott says there are 94 fatalities in the Kerrville area, and another 15 people were killed in other parts of Texas. The death toll from the floods now stands at 109 people.

In terms of loss of life, this has been more devastating for the area than Hurricane Harvey, he says.

He continues that five campers and one counsellor are still missing from Camp Mystic.

The governor adds that one other child not associated with the camp has also not been found.

Image source, Getty Images

Governor Abbott says the hearts of his fellow Texans are "breaking every single day" because of what the communities in Kerr County are going through.

He says he spoke with locals impacted by the floods, and that he told them that "we are not leaving until this job is finished".

He says the primary job right now is still locating everybody impacted by this flood, and that people are still missing.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is now speaking to reporters.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest updates.

And you can click watch live at the top of this page.

US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce has thanked Mexican emergency response teams that crossed the southern border to help in the rescue effort.

"During this time, we are moved by the many countries around the world who have expressed their condolences," she said during a news conference.

"We are thankful to our regional partners, including our friends and neighbours in Mexico, who generously have sent brave firefighters and members of their Civil Protection water rescue teams to support the search and rescue efforts in Kerrville, Texas."

The 13-member team from the border town Ciudad Acuña, Mexico have so-far located the body of a missing person, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

Governor Abbott is currently in a helicopter, surveying the flood damage.

In a stream from the chopper, the governor can be seen looking out the window of the aircraft at the campgrounds, river and the surrounding roads.

Someone on the helicopter with Abbott asked him how he felt seeing a Texas flag flying amid the devastation.

"Pride," he said into the helicopter radio. "Texans have a lot of pride in our state in our people, in our country, and we will always fly the flag."

When he lands, he will speak to the public from the Hill Country Youth Event Center in Kerrville.

You can click watch live at the top of this page to follow.

Image source, Getty Images

A Black Hawk helicopter on a search and rescue mission in Kerr County was hit by a drone and was forced to make an emergency landing.

In a Facebook post, the County said no one was injured, but the incident "removed a valuable asset from the emergency operations efforts".

The post urged "private hobbyist and media drones" to remain grounded, and said only authorised aircraft were allowed to fly over a no-fly zone in the flood-affected area around the Guadalupe River.

We're expecting to hear an update from Texas Governor Greg Abbott at a press conference scheduled for 16:00 EDT (21:00 BST).

Abbott has plans to visit Camp Mystic today, and has been giving the public regular updates on the rising death toll. Yesterday, he declared a "Day of Prayer" for the victims.

We will bring you all the updates here, and you can click Watch Live at the top of this page to stream the briefing.

Amid the tragedy in Texas, first responders from across the US southern border have arrived in Texas to help in the search and rescue operation.

The 13-member team from the border town Ciudad Acuña, Mexico have already helped find one person who died, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

Watch the video of the rescue team's work above.

In the meantime, we are pausing our live coverage of the floods for now. You can learn more about the situation in Texas below, and we'll be back to bring you any major developments.

• 'Their house was swept away. We lost three beautiful friends'
• Did US government cuts contribute to the Texas tragedy?
• Three key factors that made Texas floods so extreme and so deadly
• 'Hero' dad, twin girls and riverside campers among Texas flood victims

Image source, Getty Images

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem addressed the Texas floods in brief remarks this morning during a cabinet meeting with Trump and the president's top officials.

She started off by noting the difficulty of the rescue mission, saying that first responders "had to try several times" to reach the scene via aircraft under challenging weather conditions, and thanked them for their "incredible work".

Noem also recalled her encounters with victims' family members, as they returned to Camp Mystic grounds in hopes of finding their loved ones.

"I had walked through the cabin where all the little girls died, and I had kind of fallen apart in there," Noem said.

She said she encountered a man just outside of the cabin who told Noem: "My little girl was in that cabin... and I just found her best friend, about an hour-and-a-half ago. She had passed away."

Noem said: "These parents were picking up their kids' belongings out of the mud and throughout the camp, and putting them in bags."

After the experience, Noem said she requested there be "escorts or counselors" for parents when they come in to the camp so that they have somebody with them as they're looking for their children or their children's belongings.

Speaking just now at a cabinet meeting at the White House, Donald Trump confirms that he will be travelling to Texas.

The president says he will travel to the flood-ravaged areas with First Lady Melania Trump on Friday.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

We have just heard from Kerr County and Texas state officials, who have given an update on the situation in the county worst hit by weekend flash flooding.

Here is what we learned:

• Officials said 87 people have died in Kerr County alone, including 56 adults and 31 children
• Five campers and one adult from the all-girls' Camp Mystic remain missing
• Identification of the bodies of 19 adults and seven children is pending. Some bodies have been released to relatives
• Police say there is no estimate of missing persons in the general population, besides the confirmed missing figures for Camp Mystic
• There was a tense exchange between reporters and officials about what measures were in place to act on flood warnings issued by the National Weather Service
• Officials say they are focused on the search and rescue operation and evaluation of any failures that occurred will come later
• The next update is expected at 16:00 EDT (21:00 BST)

This news conference has now ended, but we will continue to bring you the final key lines.

We heard from Jonathan Lamb, of the Kerrville Police Department, who says some roads have been closed for safety. He advised against non-essential travel.

"Our first responders have had a very difficult time getting to where they need to go because of the amount of people who are flooding our roadways," he says. "We understand there's natural curiosity; people want to come here and see the flood damage. Now is not the time for sightseeing."

Lamb also says the last time a person was rescued alive was on Friday, 4 July to the best of his knowledge.

Sheriff Leitha is fielding reporters questions about the timing of events, and is being asked to fill in the gaps between when the first flood emergency alert was issued and when he was first made aware of the situation.

"When I was first notified, it was around the 0400 to 0500 area," Leitha says.

Prior to that, the sheriff says, "we're in the process of putting together a timeline" of events, saying that the process of doing so will take "a little bit of time".

"That's not my prioirty... there's three priorities, locating the people out there, identify (the deceased) and notify the next of kin," Leitha says.

Reporters still press for details after Leitha's response, prompting the Texas Game Warden to step in and address concerns.

"Right now, this team up here, is focused on bringing people home. That's our focus," the game warden says.

A reporter interjects, "it seems like you're ducking" questions.