As of 6:25 p.m. on Wednesday, 96 people — 60 adults and 36 children — are dead after Hill Country flooding, Kerr County officials said.

Thousands of first responders and volunteers are working tirelessly to recover victims of the deadly Texas Hill Country flooding.

Kerr County and the Upper Guadalupe River Authority have tried several times to get funding to upgrade flood alerts on the river, dating back to 2016.

Miriam "Holly" Frizzell of Abilene was remembered for her vibrant life and love of the normally tranquil Guadalupe River.

The flooding created financial peril for many small businesses owners. Now they are cleaning up and working to get back on their feet.

This isn't the first time flooding along the Guadalupe River has claimed lives. Jim Moore was a reporter who covered an eerily similar flood nearly four decades ago.

Since 2016, the topic of a "flood warning system" for Kerr County has come up at 20 different county commissioners' meetings, according to minutes. The idea for a system was first introduced by Kerr County Commissioner Thomas Moser and Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas in March 2016.

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.

The flooding brought the Guadalupe to its second-highest point in history, according to the National Weather Service, which urged people in the affected area to move to higher ground.

But meteorologists say the official National Weather Service forecast gave ample notice for people to get themselves – and others – out of harm’s way. State and local officials say nothing could have prepared them for the Guadalupe River to rise as quickly as it did.