Multiple parts of Central Texas, including Kerr County, were shocked by flash floods Friday when the Guadalupe River and others rose rapidly.

Some camps in the region had to be evacuated, and local newspapers described how Camp Mystic was among those cut off from the outside world. According to a Kerr County history book, floodwaters at Camp Mystic almost reached the top of the dining hall’s stairs.

More harrowing stories of survival are being told in the wake of historic flash flooding in central Texas that claimed at least 120 lives, including dozens of children who were at Camp Mystic, a historic summer camp nestled along the Guadalupe River.

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.

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.