Over just two hours, the Guadalupe River at Comfort, Texas, rose from hip-height to three stories tall, sending water weighing as much as the Empire State building downstream roughly every minute it remained at its crest. The force of floodwater is often more powerful and surprising than people imagine.

Raising Cane’s founder and owner Todd Graves is helping the Texas communities hit by flash flooding with a $1 million donation, according to the fast-food company.

Devastating flooding in parts of central Texas has led to the deaths of at least 90 people, including 27 campers and counsellors at a Christian summer camp, after the Guadalupe River rose to a height of 26 feet in less than an hour.

He tied a garden hose around his waist and waded into chest-deep water. What happened next during the Texas floods is being called heroic.

GOP Sen. Ted Cruz was on a pre-planned vacation in Greece with his family when devastating floods hit central Texas, and he sought to travel back “as fast as humanly possible,” his office said.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz was overseas again when devastating floods struck his home state, but this time he promptly got on a flight home, his team claimed. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The flash floods that have devastated Texas are already a difficult crisis to manage. More than 100 people are confirmed dead after the July 4 deluge, and many more remain missing. But while recovery efforts are underway, Texas authorities are grappling with a compounding challenge: civilian drone operators interfering with emergency response.

In what experts call "Flash Flood Alley," the terrain reacts quickly to rainfall steep slopes, rocky ground, and narrow riverbeds leave little time for warning.

There's no sense in finger-pointing over whether or not alerts went out fast enough in Texas, said Landry. As she sees it, preparing for the weather comes down to knowing the landscape where you live and planning out what to do if disaster strikes. "You have to be aware and prepared," she said.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) responded Tuesday to backlash for vacationing in Greece while flooding killed more than 100 people in his home state. His communications director told The Daily

When the precipitation intensified in the early morning hours Friday, many people failed to receive or respond to flood warnings at riverside campsites known to be in the floodplain.