... Judge Rob Kelly, the top elected official in Kerr County, told the BBC's US partner CBS News that the severity of the flooding had been unexpected.
"We had no reason to believe that this was gonna be any, anything like what's happened here. None whatsoever," Kelly said. ...
What flood warnings were issued and when?
The flash floods began on Thursday night and continued into Friday morning, with meteorologists saying several months' worth of rain fell in just a few hours.
In the space of 45 minutes in the early hours of Friday morning, the Guadalupe River rose by 26ft (8m), causing it to burst its banks.
By then there had been several flood warnings issued:
- - - On Wednesday, the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) activated state emergency response resources because of "increased threats of flooding" in parts of west and central Texas
- - - On Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flood watch that highlighted Kerr County, central Texas, as a place at high risk of flash flooding overnight
- - - At 01:14 local time (06:14 GMT) on Friday a flash flood warning was issued for Kerr County
- - - At 04:03 local time (09:30 GMT) an emergency flash flood warning was issued for Kerr County, followed by another for the Guadalupe River at 05:34
Was there a failure to warn people?
The NWS has defended itself, saying it was heartbroken at the loss but that it did all it could, conducting briefings on Thursday and issuing a flood watch warning that afternoon.
"The forecasting was good. The warnings were good. It's always about getting people to receive the message," Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist based in Wisconsin, told NBC News. "It appears that is one of the biggest contributors - that last mile."
People have reported receiving text message alerts on their mobile phones early on Friday morning, warning them of flooding. Some residents told the New York Times they did not understand the seriousness of them and others said they never received any at all.
Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, told reporters: "You have areas where there is no cell phone coverage, plus some coverage.
"It doesn't matter how many alert systems you sign up for, you're not going to get that."
The public can also get desensitised if it believes it is receiving too many weather warnings, said Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice, according to the Associated Press.
He said he didn't notice any problems and that it was only raining lightly at 03:30 Friday when he went jogging along the Guadalupe River trail.
But by 05:20, the water had risen so fast "we almost weren't able to get out of the park," he said.
Judge Kelly said there is no county-administered warning system in the area because such systems are expensive. ...