Three hours and 21 minutes. That’s how much time passed from when the National Weather Service sent out its first flash flood warning for part of Kerr County to when the first flooding reports came in from low-lying water crossings.

The early warnings and alerts from the National Weather Service didn’t indicate a catastrophic flood was on its way.

Using Fredericksburg as a proxy for the region, the average July rainfall over the last about 40 years is 2.2 inches. But most of the time, July seems to be closer to either extreme, whether it’s less than an inch or more than four.

Roads disappeared under rushing water. Homes and businesses were submerged as the Fourth of July weekend turned into a rescue mission.

Federal forecasters issued their first flood warning at 1:14 a.m. on July 4. Local officials haven’t shed light on when they saw the warnings or whether they saw them in time to take action.

As ominous storm clouds gather once more over Texas, the desperate search for more than 150 individuals still missing since the catastrophic July 4 floods has now stretched into its second week.