The heavy rain that turned a river in Texas into a raging wall of water was fueled by unique atmospheric conditions, according to meteorologists and climate scientists.

Local officials warned the number of dead will likely rise and were due to give an update on Sunday morning, as search and rescue teams raced to find 27 girls missing from a camp near the Guadalupe River,

Rescuers were searching for more than two dozen girls missing from a summer camp in Texas after a catastrophic flash flood killed at least 43 people, 15 of them children. The Guadalupe River that runs through the Hill Country in central south Texas rose by 26ft (8 metres) in just 45 minutes in the early hours of Friday,