Multiple parts of Central Texas, including Kerr County, were shocked by flash floods Friday when the Guadalupe River and others rose rapidly.

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.

Aaron Parsley, a senior editor at 'Texas Monthly' and former longtime staffer at PEOPLE, recalled being plunged into floodwaters with family members during the deadly storm in Texas on the Fourth of July.

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 organizations working together to help the flood victims said that 'no additional in-kind donations (clothing, food, supplies) are needed in Kerrville.' They said the best way to help is with monetary donations.

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."

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.