Over the last decade, an array of local and state agencies have missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert the type of disaster that swept away dozens in Kerr County, Texas.

Twice, the Texas Division of Emergency Management turned down Kerr County's requests for money to improve flood warnings.

At least 120 people have been killed and 173 are still missing as Texas officials deflect questions over the state’s response to the catastrophic flash floods. Kerr County remains at the center of the disaster after the Guadalupe River burst its banks on Friday,

Officials in flood-stricken central Texas on Wednesday again deflected mounting questions about whether they could have done more to warn people ahead of devastating flash flooding that killed at least 119 people on July 4.

The survival of people in local camps and low-lying areas depended not on official evacuations but on whether they were paying attention, on their own, to weather alerts in the middle of the night.

In the Austin area, 12 people are still missing and 16 are known to have perished after rain swept away homes along rivers and creeks.

Kerr County workers affected by July 4 flooding can now apply for disaster unemployment assistance through the Texas Workforce Commission.