Plans to develop a flood monitoring system in the Texas county hit hardest by deadly floods were scheduled to begin only a few weeks later.

People awoke from water rushing around them during the early morning hours of July 4, all along the Guadalupe River in the Texas Hill Country. Residents were seemingly caught off guard, but warnings had been issued days and hours before floodwaters began carrying away homes,

The storied Guadalupe River meanders through this Texas Hill Country town and into the unincorporated parts of Kerr County like a vein.

Officials balked at the cost for installing a siren warning system and the potential for sirens to blare in the middle of the night and wake up

HAMPTON ROADS — On July 4, a flash flood along the Guadalupe River overwhelmed the Texas hill country region of Kerr County. The river surged to almost 30 feet in under an hour, leading to a major rush of water. At the heart of the storm was Camp Mystic, a summer camp for girls.

Satellite images show the damage left behind after floodwaters rushed through Camp Mystic, Camp La Junta and other summer camps on July 4.

In the last nine years, federal funding for a system has been denied to the county as it contends with a tax base hostile to government overspending.

Volunteers and professionals from around the country and Mexico are still searching the challenging terrain for victims of the Texas flood.

FOX 4’s Steven Dial rode along the Guadalupe River with the sheriff of Andrews County, located in West Texas, to get his first-hand account of the recovery effort.