Over the last decade, an array of local and state agencies have missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert the type of disaster that swept away dozens of youth campers and others in Kerr County,

FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration, in coordination with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, are opening a Disaster Recovery Center in Kerrville on Thursday, July 10, to help homeowners, renters and business owners impacted by the flooding.

Of all the counties affected, Kerr County suffered the greatest losses as a deadly wall of water roared down the Guadalupe River in the early morning hours of July 4. Wednesday evening, the City of Kerrville came together in a vigil at Antler Stadium to pray for the victims and those still missing after the flood.

Officials have reported that 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic died in the devastating floods, with five campers and a counselor still missing.

Before hundreds of first responders and volunteers from around the country came to help, it was the local residents of Texas Hill Country who faced down a deadly wall of water along the Gaudalope River and witnessed terrifying scenes.

The recent disaster has some thinking back to a similar tragedy almost 40 years ago that occurred in the same month and nearly the same place.

Hill Country residents and volunteers on Tuesday continued picking up the pieces that the deadly waterway left behind days earlier.

As the floodwaters rushed into Kerrville, Texas, under the cover of darkness on Friday morning, officers jumped into action to evacuate over 100 homes and rescue more than 200 people in one hour, the police department said.