Multiple parts of Central Texas, including Kerr County, were shocked by flash floods Friday when the Guadalupe River and others rose rapidly.

At least 120 people have died and some 173 people remain unaccounted for statewide, nearly a week after flash floods ravaged the Texas Hill Country.

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.

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.

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

Flash floods surged through in the middle of the night, but many local officials appeared unaware of the unfolding catastrophe, initially leaving people near the river on their own.

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.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick signaled that he plans to push for the state to pay for sirens erected alongside the Guadalupe River in the wake of the devastating flash floods that led to the deaths of over 100 people.

Without a modern flood warning system, emergency officials monitor four sensors along the Guadalupe River – including one that was knocked out in the