More than 111 people have died across six counties after flash flooding from heavy rain began affecting the state last week.

On Wednesday, hundreds prayed, wept, and held one another at a prayer service, among the first of many somber gatherings to come in the weeks ahead.

At least 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic perished in Friday's floods, with the total death toll in the floods now surpassing 100.

Flash floods surged through in the middle of the night, but many local officials appeared unaware of the unfolding catastrophe, initially leaving people near the river on their own.

Viral posts promoted false claims that cloud seeding, a form of weather modification, played a role in the devastation. Meteorologists explain it doesn't work that way.

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 of youth campers and others in Kerr County,

A flash flood is a rapid rise of water along a stream or in a low-lying urban area, the weather service said. Flash flooding can result from slow-moving thunderstorms, from numerous thunderstorms that develop repeatedly over the same area, or from heavy rains associated with tropical cyclones.

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