Volunteers combing through debris piles from the devastating Central Texas flooding had to sniff out decaying bodies in the “chaotic” initial days of the search-and-rescue efforts.

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of others in Kerr County on the Fourth of July.

Also: San Antonio mourned the victims in a Travis Park vigil; UTSA said one of its teachers died in the Guadalupe River flood; Kerrville officials said a privately owned drone collided with a helicopter conducting search and rescue operations.

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.

Greg Adkins showed KHOU 11 News the debris left behind in his backyard, which sits right next to the Guadalupe River.

As the floodwaters rushed into Kerrville, Texas, under the cover of darkness on Friday morning, officers jumped into action to evacuate over 100 homes and rescue more than 200 people in one hour, the police department said.

Residents along the Guadalupe River in the Hill Country are being evacuated, and search efforts continue for missing people after severe flooding on Friday. The search area spans 60 miles, and some are expressing the need for improved alert systems in the city,

It took just 90 minutes for the river to rise more than 30 feet. A look at the historic flood levels now etched into Central Texas history.