Plans to develop a flood monitoring system in the Texas county hit hardest by deadly floods were scheduled to begin only a few weeks later.

FOX 4’s Steven Dial rode along the Guadalupe River with the sheriff of Andrews County, located in West Texas, to get his first-hand account of the recovery effort.

As the Guadalupe River swelled from a wall of water heading downstream, sirens blared over the tiny river community of Comfort -- a last-ditch warning to get out for those who had missed cellphone alerts and firefighters going street-to-street telling people to get out.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Texas authorities said Tuesday 87 people died in Kerr County as a result of catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River on the Fourth of July. Five girls and a counselor from Camp Mystic remain missing, the officials said.