Before hundreds of first responders and volunteers from around the country came to help, it was the local residents of Texas Hill Country who faced down a deadly wall of water along the Gaudalope River and witnessed terrifying scenes.

FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration, in coordination with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, are opening a Disaster Recovery Center in Kerrville on Thursday, July 10, to help homeowners, renters and business owners impacted by the flooding.

Just days after floodwaters raged through the Guadalupe, parts of the riverbed lay dry – and the Texas Hill Country community must now face where it goes from here.

Despite officials urging civilians to stay away, volunteers have joined the search for missing people and the cleanup on the Guadalupe River.

Despite officials urging civilians to stay away, volunteers have joined the search for missing people and the cleanup on the Guadalupe River. (The Associated Press)

Several Kerrville Independent School District teachers and staff members drove school buses full of hundreds of campers from Camp La Junta and Camp Mystic to reunification sites on July 4.

Employees said they felt a responsibility to reopen The Boat and provide a sense of normalcy for those reeling from the destruction.

Hill Country residents and volunteers on Tuesday continued picking up the pieces that the deadly waterway left behind days earlier.