A week after catastrophic floods in Central Texas, key questions remain unanswered about how state and local officials prepared for and responded to the disaster.

The record of frequent, often deadly floods in Central Texas goes back more than 200 years to July 1819, when floodwaters spilled into the major plazas of San Antonio. That city on the edge of the Hill Country was hit by major floods again in 1913, 1921, 1998 and 2025, to cite a few examples.