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.

In the days after the devastating flood that killed dozens in Central Texas, local officials have deflected direct questions about preparations and warnings in advance of the storm that struck July Fourth.

Also: San Antonio mourned the victims in a Travis Park vigil; UTSA said one of its teachers died in the Guadalupe River flood; Kerrville officials said a privately owned drone collided with a helicopter conducting search and rescue operations.

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.

Historic Texas flood leaves 161 missing and 96 dead. Rescuers battle harsh conditions, as communities grapple with heartache and aid reaches survivors.

Flooding caused by the overflowing Guadalupe River has prompted widespread evacuations in Kerrville and surrounding areas of Kerr County, Texas.

Since 2016, the topic of a "flood warning system" for Kerr County has come up at 20 different county commissioners' meetings, according to minutes. The idea for a system was first introduced by Kerr County Commissioner Thomas Moser and Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas in March 2016.

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.

The storied Guadalupe River meanders through this Texas Hill Country town and into the unincorporated parts of Kerr County like a vein.

Newly released satellite images reveal catastrophic damage caused by the Hill Country floods along the Guadalupe River.