Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system, including failing to secure roughly $1 million US for a project to better protect Kerr County’s 50,

A Kerrville-area river authority executed a contract for a flood warning system that would have been used to help with emergency response, local officials said.

Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of others in Kerr County on the Fourth of July.

The number of confirmed deaths from the Texas Hill Country floods rose to 95 in Kerr County on Wednesday, Sheriff Larry Leitha said.

Kerr County and the Upper Guadalupe River Authority have tried several times to get funding to upgrade flood alerts on the river, dating back to 2016.

As of 6:25 p.m. on Wednesday, 96 people — 60 adults and 36 children — are dead after Hill Country flooding, Kerr County officials said.

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.

In the days after the devastating flood that killed dozens in Central Texas, local officials have deflected direct questions about preparations and warnings in advance of the storm that struck July Fourth.

Faith-based organizations are helping Texans heal spiritually as they cope with the aftermath of deadly floods.