In what experts call "Flash Flood Alley," the terrain reacts quickly to rainfall steep slopes, rocky ground, and narrow riverbeds leave little time for warning.

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

More than 100 people have been confirmed dead since July 4, when the Guadalupe River in central Texas swelled overnight and triggered flash floods that swept through an area known locally as “Flash Flood Alley.

Texas lawmakers failed to pass a bill in the regular legislative session that would have improved local governments’ emergency communications infrastructure.

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.

A Texas sheriff says the deaths from flash flooding in central Texas has risen to 27 people, including nine children. (AP video shot by: Lekan Oyekanmi)

At least 161 people were missing from Kerr County alone, officials said. Several children were among the missing.

Xavier Ramirez’s family was sleeping in trucks at a campsite near the Guadalupe River when it overflowed amid disastrous rains