The search and rescue efforts are intensifying for more than 160 people who remain missing days after flash floods killed more than 100 people in central Texas. New satellite imagery collected on July 8 shows the aftermath of the devastating flood along the Guadalupe River that swept through the area near Hunt and Kerrville, Texas.

Nearly a week after floodwaters swept away more than a hundred lives, Texas officials are facing heated questions over how much was – or was not – done in the early morning hours of Friday as a wall of water raced down the Guadalupe River.

FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration, in coordination with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, are opening a Disaster Recovery Center in Kerrville on Thursday, July 10, to help homeowners, renters and business owners impacted by the flooding.

New human settlements constructed in recent years have made the waterway more hazardous, UT-Arlington civil engineering professor says.

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.

Before hundreds of first responders and volunteers from around the country came to help, it was the local residents of Texas Hill Country who faced down a deadly wall of water along the Gaudalope River and witnessed terrifying scenes.

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.

Despite officials urging civilians to stay away, volunteers have joined the search for missing people and the cleanup on the Guadalupe River.

During an interview with Fox News Monday afternoon, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said that he and Gov. Greg Abbott agreed that the state should erect sirens along the Guadalupe River.