A Kerrville-area river authority executed a contract for a flood warning system that would have been used to help with emergency response, local officials said.

As of 6:25 p.m. on Wednesday, 96 people — 60 adults and 36 children — are dead after Hill Country flooding, Kerr County officials said.

The number of people missing after devastating floods in Texas continues to climb, with officials warning that the recovery effort is far from over despite thousands of first responders clearing debris and searching for survivors.

Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of others in Kerr County on the Fourth of July.

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.

Kerr County and the Upper Guadalupe River Authority have tried several times to get funding to upgrade flood alerts on the river, dating back to 2016.

Emergency responders kept hope alive as they combed through fallen trees and other debris that littered the hard-hit central Texas communities on the fifth day after devastating floods killed more than 100.

The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country has established the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund to support local response, relief, and recovery efforts following the devastating July 4th flood. You can access the Fund here: https://t.co/fSsOpJj2hq pic.twitter.com/uyYMBazwaX