At least 15 children are among the bodies recovered so far, according to county officials responding to the natural disaster.

The grueling search for 27 missing girls stretched into a third day on Sunday. Survivors told terrifying stories of being swept away and clinging to trees as rampaging floodwaters carried trees and cars past them.

The death toll from flash floods rose to nearly 70 on Sunday after searchers found more more bodies in the hardest-hit Kerr County.