Police say ‘sightseers’ hindering Texas recovery efforts as teams search for victims in debris

Texas police say “sightseeing” residents are making it harder for them to complete their rescue and recovery missions in the wake of deadly flash floods this week.

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha made the comments during a Wednesday press conference, urging anyone not involved in recovery efforts to “give us room.”

“Our first responders are trying to get to places to do their jobs,” he said. “And people coming here from outside the community, and people within the community, they want to go sightseeing, look at the river, see the flood damage – it’s making our job very hard.”

“We ask folks to give us room to work,” he added.

TEXAS FLOOD SURVIVORS SHARE HARROWING STORIES, SEARCH CONTINUES FOR THOSE STILL MISSING

Leitha says authorities are now using heavy machinery to search through dense piles of debris that collected in “bottlenecks” at various places along the flooded rivers and creeks.

He also urged residents who have large piles of debris on their property not to use heavy machinery to remove them until first responders arrive.

“It’s possible there are victims in that debris pile,” Leitha said. “We don’t want to disturb that. Please give us a call…and let us know that you’ve got a debris pile that needs to be checked before you begin that level of clean-up.

Officials said there have confirmed 95 deaths in Kerr County alone, including 59 adults, and 36 children. Of those, 14 and 13 remain unidentified respectively.

Officials added that there are still 161 people reported missing in Kerr County, and they urged residents who may have reunited with missing loved ones to notify authorities.

Authorities noted that some methods of search — such as horseback or ATV patrols — are currently not viable due to hazardous conditions. Numerous low-water crossings and bridges remain in need of repair before emergency teams can fully access all affected locations.

Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report