KERRVILLE, Texas, July 8 (Reuters) - 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.

According to local authorities, at least 109 people died on July 4 and 5, most of which were swept up in floodwaters from campgrounds along the Guadalupe River. That’s just shy of the 118 deaths reported as a result of Hurricane Rita in 2005.