After flash floods swept through central Texas in July 2025, people online searched for reasons why the disaster was so deadly.

After a tragedy, records from local archives can help us understand how a community understands itself. Here’s some of what we learned following the devastating July 4 flooding in Texas.

While Kerr County officials say they didn’t know how bad the July 4 flooding would be, it warned residents nearly eight years ago to “be flood aware” about the ongoing potential

The number of people reported missing in Kerr County, Texas, as a result of last week’s flash floods continues to soar. Authorities say search teams combing through the debris and destruction there are looking for more than 160 people who disappeared in the raging waters.

A "Basic Plan" for emergency response for three Texas counties labeled flash flooding as having a "major" impact on public safety, according to a page on a city website.

Even in areas that are mapped, like the Camp Mystic site in Kerr County, Texas, that was hit by a deadly flash flood on July 4, 2025, the maps may underestimate their risk because of a reliance on historic data and outdated risk assessments.

Kerr County officials, who have come under increasing scrutiny for their actions as the Guadalupe River began to flood, eventually sent text-message alerts that morning to residen

Heavy rain and a new wave of flooding in central Texas on Sunday prompted swift water rescues and hampered the grim search for victims of the deluge that swept through the region more than a week ago,