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.

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.

This map shows where camps along the Guadalupe River were impacted by the July 4 flood. Meteorologists Pat Cavlin and Kim Castro detail how it all happened.

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.

Flash floods last week in Texas caused the Guadalupe River to rise dramatically, reaching three stories high in just two hours.

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 Associated Press has assembled an approximate timeline of the 48 hours before, during and after the deadly flash flood, beginning with the activation of the state’s emergency response resources on July 2 — the same day Texas signed off on the camp’s emergency plan for disasters.

It was an emotionally overwhelming July 4th Friday for Gov. Glenn Youngkin as floodwaters roared down the Guadalope River in the Texas hill country – family and friends were vacationing there and while they are safe “I have to say there were moments when they weren’t,

Two 19-year-old Camp Mystic counselors knew tragedy had unfolded in other cabins early in the morning hours of July 4. But they were responsible for the girls in their own bunk, who knew enough to be upset and worried.