Max Chesnes is the Tampa Bay Times' environment and climate reporter, covering public lands, water quality, wildlife and everything in between. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Instagram @MaxChesnes. Anyone can view a sampling of recent comments, but you must be a Times subscriber to contribute. Log in above or subscribe here.

Some governors and mayors are concerned over how current or potential cuts to agencies will impact how the government can respond in the future to major weather events.

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.

After catastrophic floods hit Texas' Hill Country, many are asking about preparations for the next big flood. Jason Allen spoke to Jay Banner, climatologist at University of Texas at Austin, on the banks of the Guadalupe River.

The Hardins are not the only South Florida family who lost loved ones in the central Texas floods. The twin 8-year-old granddaughters of Miami childhood education advocate David Lawrence Jr. died in the floods. Hannah and Rebecca were among the girls staying at Camp Mystic.

At least 120 people, including more than two dozen children, died in the torrential downpour. Many remain missing in the hardest-hit county.

Hovering above the debris-strewn Guadalupe River, drone pilot Jordy Marks scans the flood-ravaged landscape with a quiet determination. As part of a civilian search and rescue team, Marks is helping guide ground crews to areas still untouched nearly a week after deadly floodwaters swept through Central Texas.

Renee Smajstrla, a 8-year-old straight-A student from Ingram, Texas, who had played a role in her school’s production of “The Wizard of Oz,” was one of the victims who died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, her family said.