At least 161 are still unaccounted for after the July Fourth floods that saw the waters of the Guadalupe rise to historic levels in Central Texas, officials with Kerr County said Friday. Authorities have confirmed 103 deaths, 36 of whom are children.

The catastrophic Central Texas floods have claimed at least 121 lives and left 173 missing, as a report reveals that Kerr County officials were repeatedly denied state funding for an emergency flood warning system.

In the last nine years, federal funding for a system has been denied to the county as it contends with a tax base hostile to government overspending.

Over 12,000 volunteers have already assisted in Kerr County, according to the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

Kerr County first tried to secure $1 million for a flood warning system in 2017, but could not. Could such a system have prevented loss of life on July 4?

The number of people reported missing in Kerr County, Texas, as a result of last week’s flash floods continues to soar. Authorities say search teams combing through the debris and destruction there are looking for more than 160 people who disappeared in the raging waters.

The reporter said that several families were angry because they felt that alerts for the flood did not go out in time.

Experts suggested that more data and education are needed as Texas and the rest of the country build in known flood plains.