This week in Texas, estimates put the number of people still missing from the Hill Country floods at more than 170, a daunting figure atop at least 120 deaths confirmed by authorities.
But that missing person tally might not be as precise as it seems.
Confusion and uncertainty can take hold after a shocking disaster and, despite best efforts by local authorities, it can be difficult to pin down how many people reported missing are actually unaccounted for. Some people on a list after California's Camp Fire wildfire in 2018 were later found to be OK the whole time. The death count in the 2023 Maui fire was 102, far below the 1,100 people initially feared missing.
In Texas, several hundred people were reported missing to officials in Kerr County after the Fourth of July floods, said Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Investigators whittled that number down by Tuesday after learning that some were counted twice and others were found alive.
''There's nothing to celebrate about how well we've done this far, but there's a lot of work to be done,'' Martin said.
Authorities announced a phone number and email address for people to report missing friends or family.
''We need to keep an accurate count, as accurate as possible,'' Jonathan Lamb of the Kerrville Police Department said in a plea to the public Wednesday. "So if you've reported somebody missing and they've been recovered safely, please let us know."
The flooding sent walls of water through Hill Country in the middle of the night, killing at least 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic, a century-old all-girls Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River. More remain missing from that camp and elsewhere.