VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo on Sunday sent condolences to the families of devastating floods in Texas which have left at least 50 people dead and nearly 30 more missing, many of them children.

“I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in a summer camp in the disaster caused by flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas. We pray for them,” said the US-born pontiff following Angelus prayers.

Rescuers searched through the night to try to locate 27 girls and teenagers missing from a riverside summer camp after flash floods caused by torrential rains on Friday, when the Guadalupe River rose eight meters (26 feet) in just 45 minutes.

Nearly 300 millimeters of rain per hour suddenly fell, a third of the average annual rainfall.