A retired nurse, her son and a family friend say they were lucky to survive last week's flash floods in Texas that killed more than 100 people, including many summer campers.

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.

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.

Flash floods last week in Texas caused the Guadalupe River to rise dramatically, reaching three stories high in just two hours.

New satellite images released from Maxar Technologies show the destruction of the flash floods that have resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people over the July 4 weekend.Local authorities estimate around 160 people are still missing as Thursday marks the seventh day of the search for victims.

A Kerrville-area river authority executed a contract for a flood warning system that would have been used to help with emergency response, local officials said.

Hill Country residents and volunteers on Tuesday continued picking up the pieces that the deadly waterway left behind days earlier.

In other words, we keep playing a game of chance with forces indifferent to us—until we are finally reminded of the cost of losing.