Religion and the river are constant Kerr County touchstones. As residents lean on their faith, they grapple with their relationship to the water.

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.

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 retired nurse, her son, and a family friend say they were lucky to survive last week's flash floods in Texas that killed more than 100 people, including many summer campers.

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.