As authorities launch one of the largest search-and-rescue efforts in recent Texas history, they have come under intensifying scrutiny over preparations and why residents and youth summer camps that are dotted along the river were not alerted sooner or told to evacuate.

The deadly floods that struck Texas on the 4th of July caught local officials off guard as the torrential rains caused the Guadalupe River to overflow in minutes.

Eyewitness Tonia Fucci recounted the destruction that followed deadly floods in Comfort, central Texas, near the Guadalupe River on July 4.