Alyson Crouch Hardin, 64, and Josephine Hardin, 28, traveled to Hunt as they had so many summers previously. They are still missing and presumed dead.

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.

Almost a week has passed since fast-moving floodwaters tore through the Texas Hill Country during the early morning hours of July 4, submerging roads, sweeping away structures, and turning the usually peaceful Guadalupe River into a deadly force.