Central Texas, with its rocky soil, steep terrain and susceptibility to heavy rain, has been prone to devastating floods over the decades.

In the wake of last week’s Texas floods that killed more than 100 people, a Post analysis found the number of U.S. freshwater flood fatalities has ticked up in recent years.

Average annual number of flood-related deaths in the U.S. between 2000 and 2024, though this figure has increased in recent years. According to a Washington Post analysis , most fatal floods are associated with tropical storms, “which studies show have become stronger and wetter amid rising global temperatures.”

In response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 amended the county’s flood map to remove 15 of the camp’s buildings from the hazard area.

According to local authorities, at least 109 people died on July 4 and 5, most of which were swept up in floodwaters from campgrounds along the Guadalupe River. That’s just shy of the 118 deaths reported as a result of Hurricane Rita in 2005.

Florida lacks the hilly topography that supercharged torrential rain into deadly inundations in Central Texas over the July Fourth weekend, but a host of factors make the Sunshine State the most flood-prone of any other.

Steep hills, shallow soils and a fault zone have made Hill Country, also called "flash flood alley," one of the state's most dangerous regions.