The first weather emergency alert sent by the National Weather Service with urgent language instructing people to "seek higher ground now" was sent at 4:03 a.m. local time.

The alert, a Blue Alert issued by the FBI, named Benjamin Song, 32, as the suspect wanted in the July 4 shooting of a police officer at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarad

Weather warnings predicted devastation from both the Texas floods and Hurricane Helene. But in both disasters, people were left in harm’s way.

Here's what to know about the deadly flooding, the colossal weather system that drove it and ongoing efforts to identify victims.

A small Texas town that recorded no deaths in last weekend’s flood disaster had recently upgraded its emergency alert system — the kind of setup state, county and federal officials

Flooding is the deadliest natural disaster facing Oklahomans, a threat far greater than tornadoes. In the United States, flooding kills an average of 103 people a year. Tornadoes, however, caused 48 deaths on average during the same period, according to the National Weather Service.