Heavy rains fell quickly in the predawn hours of Friday in the Texas Hill Country, causing the Gaudalupe River to rise 26 feet in just 45 minutes.

Eyewitness Tonia Fucci recounted the destruction that followed deadly floods in Comfort, central Texas, near the Guadalupe River on July 4.

Before heading to bed before the Fourth of July holiday, Christopher Flowers checked the weather while staying at a friend’s house along the Guadalupe River. Nothing in the forecast alarmed him. Hours later,