KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — 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.

Over just two hours, the Guadalupe River at Comfort, Texas, rose from hip-height to three stories tall, sending water weighing as much as the Empire State building downstream roughly every minute it remained at its crest. The force of floodwater is often more powerful and surprising than people imagine.

A Sulphur Springs couple camping on the banks of the Guadalupe River are among the victims of the Hill Country floods that claimed over 100 lives on the Fourth of July.

New satellite images released from Maxar Technologies show the destruction of the flash floods that have resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people over the July 4 weekend.Local authorities estimate around 160 people are still missing as Thursday marks the seventh day of the search for victims.

Despite officials urging civilians to stay away, volunteers have joined the search for missing people and the cleanup on the Guadalupe River.

Animal rescue groups have found hundreds of pets in areas ravaged by flooding near the banks of the Guadalupe River last week. Animal shelters have filled with dogs and cats waiting to be reunited with their owners.

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.

New human settlements constructed in recent years have made the waterway more hazardous, UT-Arlington civil engineering professor says.