In an emotional first-person account for 'Texas Monthly,' a former PEOPLE staffer recalled being swept away by floodwaters with his family

Over 100 people have died after heavy rain pounded Kerr County, Texas, early Friday, leading to "catastrophic" flooding, the sheriff said.

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.

The Texas Hill Country has been notorious for flash floods caused by the Guadalupe River. Here's why the area is called "Flash Flood Alley."

President Donald Trump toured the devastation left by flash flooding in central Texas amid growing questions about how local officials responded to the crisis as well as questions about the federal response -- including the fate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- that he has so far avoided.

Officials in Kerr County, where the majority of the deaths from the July 4 flash floods occurred, have yet to detail what actions they took in the early hours of the disaster.

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 police described some of the harrowing rescues they conducted after flash floods engulfed camps and homes in the state's Hill Country.

President Donald Trump is touring the devastation left by flash flooding in central Texas amid growing questions about how local officials responded to the crisis as well as questions about the federal response -- including the fate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- that he has so far avoided.