Over the last decade, an array of local and state agencies have missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert the type of disaster that swept away dozens of youth campers and others in Kerr County,

With more than 170 still missing, communities must reconcile how to pick up the pieces around a waterway that remains both a wellspring and a looming menace.

Survivors have described the floods along the Guadalupe River as a “pitch black wall of death” and said they received no emergency warnings.

Kerr County had discussed buying such things as water gauges and sirens after previous flood disasters. But as with many rural Texas counties, cost was an issue.

As the death toll continues to rise from devastating flooding that struck the Texas Hill Country, questions have been asked about whether there was enough warning ahead of the deadly flooding.

Heavy rain poured over parts of central Texas, dumping more than a month's worth of rain for places like San Angelo.

New human settlements constructed in recent years have made the waterway more hazardous, UT-Arlington civil engineering professor says.

Flash flooding is common enough around the crescent-shaped region from Dallas through the Hill Country, the area earned the nickname "Flash Flood Alley."