'Our hearts are shattered,' Trump says as he pays tribute to victims of catastrophic Texas floods that 'killed 135'

By Henry Moore

Donald Trump has paid tribute to the victims of the Texas floods that he says have now left 135 people dead - with many more still missing.

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The US president said he has "never seen anything like it' as he visited the site of one of the Texas' worst natural disasters in decades.

The catastrophe unfolded in the early hours of Friday last week after the Guadalupe River rose 26ft (8m) in 45 minutes.

"I've never seen anything like it. I've seen a lot of bad ones. I've gone to a lot of hurricanes, a lot of tornadoes. I've never seen anything like this," he said.

He added: "This is there's a bad one. We just visited with incredible families... they've been devastated. They lost their child, or two children, and just hard to believe what I've never seen anything like it a little narrow river that becomes a monster, and that's what happened.

"The First Lady and I are here in Texas to express the love and support and the anguish of our entire nation in the aftermath of this really horrific and deadly flood,” he added.

He said "all across the country, American's hearts are shattered", adding "we are filled with grief and devastation from the loss of life."

The President continued: "Unfortunately, they’re still looking. There’s a lot of missing children, possibly, mostly, we don’t know, but they’re still looking, and they’ll find everybody. But it’s not an easy thing.”

He said "dozens of precious children were taken from us", adding that this is "terrible". He added that there are a lot of "young angels" among them, including the victims who were staying at Camp Mystic.

Trump described the Christian camp devastating by the flooding as a "legendary place", with children attending because they "loved God".

But "we lost some wonderful people beyond the little girls", he added, including all those first responders and civilians who had tried to save them.

Trump thanked Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who he said he's been working with closely following the disaster.

Melania Trump, who was sitting alongside her husband, said "our nation is grieving with you".

She said the pair met the families of the victims and was given a special bracelet from the camp in honour of the little girls from the camp who lost their lives.

"I am praying for them and giving them my strength and love," the First Lady added.

According to officials, the total death toll has now risen to 120, with authorities coming under fire for a lack of transparency and organisation when it comes to updates on those missing.

Around 160 people are still unaccounted for, authorities say.

Read more: Trump to be 'denied honour of addressing Parliament' during historic second state visit

Water came crashing through the cabins of Camp Mystic - a private Christian summer camp for girls located on the banks of the Guadalupe River - in the early hours of Friday.

At least 27 of those confirmed dead across the state are from the Christian summer camp, with some victims as young as eight years old.

Speaking to reporters as he left the White House, Trump said: “It’s a horrible thing.”

After arriving in the Lone Star State, Trump was pictured meeting with first responders in the town of Kerrville, one of the areas worst hit by the flooding.

He was joined by Texas senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, alongside agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins.

Trump signed a major disaster declaration on Sunday for Kerr County, as he announced plans to visit: "I would have done it today, but we'd just be in their way.

"It's a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible," he told reporters.

"This area is primarily pro-Trump," said Harris Currie, a rancher from Utopia, Texas, near Kerrville, after the president arrived.

Trump won Kerr County with 77% of the vote last year, and Mr Currie said his visit is "something a president should do".

Kerr County Commissioner Jeff Holt, who also is a volunteer firefighter, said the focus of Mr Trump's visit should be "how we responded and what we're going to do in the future".

"In the future, we're going to figure out how we get a little better at what we do," Mr Holt said.