A "Wall of Hope" appeared on Wednesday in downtown Kerrville, providing a space for people to pray, cry, or honor the victims.

Follow for live updates in the Texas flooding as the death toll rises to 120, as rescue operations start to shift to recovery phase

Most summers, Kerrville, Texas, draws crowds for its July 4 celebration. This year, the streets are filled with emergency responders.

Flash floods last week in Texas caused the Guadalupe River to rise dramatically, reaching three stories high in just two hours.

Rescue efforts included over 2,100 responders on the ground, private helicopters, drones, boats and cadaver-detecting dogs.

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.

Mourners gathered Wednesday night at Tivy High School's stadium, where they had celebrated victories and suffered losses on the field, said Ricky Pruitt, of the Kerrville Church of Christ. “Tonight is very different than all of those nights,” he said. Among those who died was the school's soccer coach.

The event was held as search crews and volunteers continued to scour miles along the Guadalupe River for the people still missing.

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — 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.