KERRVILLE, Texas >> Just three people remain missing — down from nearly 100 at last count — since the Texas Hill Country was pounded by massive flooding on July 4, officials said Saturday.

Officials praised rescuers for the sharp reduction in the number of people on the missing list: Just days after the catastrophic flooding, more than 160 people were said to be unaccounted for in Kerr County alone.

“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 in a statement.

State and local agencies’ follow-up had paid off as “many individuals who were initially reported as missing have been verified as safe and removed from the list,” Kerrville and Kerry County officials said in their statement.Local, state, national and international search teams were continuing to comb through the wreckage of the Guadalupe River watershed on Sunday as they worked to “reunite the missing with their families,” city officials said.

On Saturday, Gov. Greg Abbott said he’d received approval to add Hamilton and Travis counties to the list of 13 counties eligible for federal disaster assistance, bringing the total to 15.

The death toll in Kerr County, 107, held steady for much of this week even as the intensive search continued.

The flash floods killed at least 135 people in Texas over the holiday weekend, with most deaths along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, about 60 miles northwest of San Antonio.

Just before daybreak on July 4, the destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet on the Guadalupe, washing away homes and vehicles.

The floods laid waste to the Hill Country, a popular tourist destination where campers seek out spots along the river amid the rolling landscape. It is naturally prone to flash flooding because its dry, dirt-packed soil cannot soak up heavy rain.

The flooding was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, experts said, and it moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system.

Crews have been searching for victims using helicopters, boats and drones. Earlier efforts were hampered by rain forecasts, leading some crews to hold off or stop because of worries about more flooding.

This report includes information from the New York Daily News.