Plans to develop a flood monitoring system in the Texas county hit hardest by deadly floods were scheduled to begin only a few weeks later.

Rain rushing to the Guadalupe took it from a depth of less than 8 feet to 37.5 feet, a deluge with as much volume as an aircraft carrier over five minutes.

As the Guadalupe River swelled from a wall of water heading downstream, sirens blared over the tiny river community of Comfort — a last-ditch warning to get out for those who had missed cellphone alerts and firefighters going street-to-street telling people to get out.

One of the most beautiful nights we’ve ever had. And I’m just glad that they had that before they passed away,” she said, remembering the night before the flood.

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.

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of others in Kerr County on the Fourth of July.

KERR COUNTY, Texas — Kerr County leaders debated the issue of installing emergency sirens along the Guadalupe River nearly a decade ago, but one former official said there was pushback from some residents.

SAN ANTONIO — Five days after the waters of the Guadalupe River rose and overwhelmed much of Kerr Country on July Fourth, search and recovery efforts continue as the community picks up the pieces of one of the state's worst natural disasters in years.