Five campers and one counsellor from Camp Mystic were still missing as of yesterday, along with another child not associated with the camp, Leitha said.
Two dozen other people have been confirmed dead elsewhere in the state, according to an AFP tally of official reports.
More than 2000 rescue personnel, police and experts have descended on the flood zone in what Leitha described as an “all hands on deck” operation.
Ben Baker, of the Texas Game Wardens, said search and rescue efforts involving helicopters, drones and dogs were difficult because of the water, mud and debris.
“When we’re trying to make these recoveries, these large piles can be very obstructive, and to get in deep into these piles, it’s very hazardous.”
Meanwhile, questions intensified over whether US President Donald Trump’s Government funding cuts had weakened warning systems, and over the handling of the rescue operation.
During sometimes tense news conferences this week, officials skirted questions about the speed of the emergency response.
“There’s going to be an after-action” review of what happened, Leitha said, adding “those questions need to be answered”.
But officials stressed that the immediate focus was on finding the missing and reuniting families.
‘Door to door’
Kerrville police officer Jonathan Lamb spoke of heroic rescues by authorities and volunteers who evacuated hundreds of people from their homes or vehicles.
Officers went “door to door, waking people up” in Kerr County last Friday and, in some cases, “pulling them out of windows”.
The tragedy, “as horrific as it is, could have been so much worse”, he added.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has forecast scattered storms today in the Hill Country, including isolated pockets of heavy rain.
In the neighbouring state of New Mexico, flash flooding left three people dead on Tuesday in Ruidoso, the village website said in a statement, adding that the Ruidoso River rose to a record-breaking 6m.
Bodies in the mud
In the Texas town of Hunt, an AFP team saw recovery workers combing through piles of debris with helicopters flying overhead.
Javier Torres, 24, was digging through mud as he searched for his grandmother after finding the body of his grandfather.
He also found the bodies of two children, apparently washed up by the river.
Trump is due to visit Texas tomorrow with First Lady Melania Trump.
“We brought in a lot of helicopters from all over ... They were real pros, and they were responsible for pulling out a lot of people,” Trump said of the response.
Shel Winkley, a weather expert at the Climate Central research group, blamed the extent of the disaster on geography and exceptional drought, when dry soil absorbs less rainfall.
“This part of Texas, at least in the Kerr County flood specifically, was in an extreme to exceptional drought ... We know that, since May, temperatures have been above average.”
- Agence France-Presse
