It has been a week since catastrophic flooding in Texas Hill Country. At the time of writing the death toll exceeded 120 people with roughly 170 missing. As the tragedy unfolds, important questions are being raised about the lack of a real-time warning system,

Left-wing critics argue Texas floods were worsened by climate denialism, while conservatives call out politicization of the tragedy amid ongoing search and rescue efforts.

As a succession of thunderstorms fed by the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry pummeled Texas' Hill Country, tools used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to detect extreme rainfall began “maxing out the color charts.

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

A flood watch was issued by the NWS Fort Worth TX on Friday at 11:51 p.m. valid from Saturday 1 p.m. until Sunday 7 p.m. The watch is for Wise, Denton, Collin, Parker, Tarrant, Dallas, Hood, Montague,

The risk of the catastrophic flooding that struck Texas Hill Country as people slept on July 4 and left at least 120 dead was potentially underestimated by federal authorities, according to an ABC News analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency data, satellite imagery and risk modeling.

Maps show how heavy rainfall and rocky terrain helped create the devastating Texas floods that have killed more than 120 people.

This is false. It is not possible that cloud seeding generated the floods, according to experts, as the process can only produce limited precipitation using clouds that already exist.

In this particular case, we have seen absolutely nothing to suggest that current staffing or budget issues within NOAA and the NWS played any role at all in this event,” Houston-based

Factors such as elevation and soil consistency are vastly different in Florida than in Texas, according to meteorologists.

"A lot of the weather forecast offices now are not operating at full complement of staff," said the former lead of NOAA.