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 Guadalupe River has a history of deadly flooding. Here is a look over the decades. (AP video Marshall Ritzel/Albee Zhang)

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.

Satellite images are providing a clearer picture of the devastation brought by the deadly flooding in Central Texas over the July Fourth weekend.  At least 120 people were killed and over 160 remained missing as of Wednesday,

At least 161 people remain missing in Kerr County, Texas, as authorities and volunteers search the Guadalupe River for victims.

Texas inspectors approved Camp Mystic’s emergency plan just two days before devastating floods killed over 27 people, mostly children, at the Texas summer camp

Camp Mystic was overrun by flash flooding that started on Independence Day. Rapidly rising waters ripped through the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp, killing at least 27 people. Others are still missing.