The deadly floods that struck Texas on the 4th of July caught local officials off guard as the torrential rains caused the Guadalupe River to overflow in minutes.

A grief-stricken Texas is asking whether meteorologists and local officials did enough to prevent flood devastation.

On Thursday and Friday, warm air from the remnants of a tropical storm pushed west from the Texas coast, flowed over the Balcones Escarpment and fell as heavy rainfall over a large area from Austin north to San Angelo and the Guadalupe River area, according to John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas state climatologist.

A swift-moving flood that swept through the Hill Country of Texas on Friday, killing at least 79 people and leaving many more missing, was a flash flood.

NWS says Flash Flood Warnings were issued on July 3 and early July 4 in Central Texas, giving more than three hours of warning.

Emergency alerts gave "preliminary lead times of more than three hours before flash flooding conditions occurred," the agency said