The number of missing in this month’s catastrophic flooding in Kerr County, Texas, has dropped from 97 to 3, local officials said late Saturday, but they provided few details on why the figure had changed so significantly. The revision was the result of “extensive follow-up work” and cooperation among local, state and federal authorities, the Kerrville police department said in a post on Facebook. Many of those initially reported missing had been verified as safe, they said.

“This remarkable progress reflects countless hours of coordinated search and rescue operations, careful investigative work, and an unwavering commitment to bringing clarity and hope to families during an unimaginably difficult time,” Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said.

Numbers of those missing in natural disasters are often fluid and can decline dramatically. Overwhelmed local officials can struggle to obtain an accurate count, especially when those missing involve visitors to the affected region or people without stable housing.

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Some of those initially described as unaccounted for in Kerr County — the county most impacted by the deadly flooding on July 4 — did not live in the area but had traveled there for the holiday weekend.

That so many had remained missing more than two weeks after the devastating flooding deepened the horror of the tragedy, which left at least 135 people dead, dozens of them children. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has pledged to continue the search until every person is found.

“Our thoughts remain with the families still awaiting news, and we will continue to stand with them as efforts persist,” Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. said Saturday.

On Monday, the Texas legislature is expected to convene in Austin for a special session in which lawmakers will discuss the catastrophic flooding. State legislative leaders have formed committees to examine flood warning systems, relief efforts and disaster preparedness. They plan to hold a hearing in Kerrville on July 31.

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When flash floods surge through rural areas with rugged terrain, it can take days or even weeks to locate missing people and uncover the bodies of those who were washed away. After Hurricane Helene slammed into western North Carolina last September, the American Red Cross received more than 9,000 reunification requests from family members seeking loved ones.

The vast majority were ultimately discovered trapped in isolated locations or lost in the shuffle at shelters, and within a few weeks the number of people unaccounted for dropped from the thousands to the single digits.

A similar dynamic unfolded after the devastating 2023 wildfire in Maui, which killed 102 people. More than 1,000 others were initially unaccounted for a week later. A month after the fire, the figure dropped from 385 to 66. Two people still remain missing.

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For weeks, more than 1,000 local, state and federal responders along with thousands of volunteers have combed 60 miles of the Guadalupe River through communities in Kerr County and farther south. As hope of finding survivors faded, the massive effort has essentially become a search for remains.

The grueling, painstaking work has included helicopters, heavy equipment, search dogs and waterborne teams. Working from airboats and inflated zodiacs, divers and firefighters have plumbed the murky brown depths of the Guadalupe. Crews have deployed sonar equipment in an attempt to discover what might be buried in the riverbed after the raging flood swept away homes, trailers and vehicles.

The search teams on the Guadalupe have continued their heartbreaking work, hoping to give families the ability to bury their loved ones. On Thursday, a group located the remains of Lyle Zunker, 7, and his sister, Holland, 3. Their parents, Paula and Reece Zunker, were found a week earlier.

At location after location, the same scene repeated itself: chainsaws buzzing and heavy equipment beeping, peeling back the layers of debris. Rough Vine, 43, had spent more than a week volunteering with the search.

“This is going to go on for a very long time,” Vine predicted. He described the challenge bluntly: “The river was a meat grinder.”