At least 135 people have been killed in "catastrophic" flash flooding across Texas, while several others remain missing.

Even before the Central Texas floods that killed more than 100 people, the state was by far the leader in U.S. flood deaths due partly to geography that can funnel rainwater into deadly deluges, according to a study spanning decades.

Eight-year-old girls at sleep-away camp, families crammed into recreational vehicles, local residents traveling to or from work. These are some of the victims.

Over 130 people have died after heavy rain pounded Kerr County, Texas, early Friday, leading to "catastrophic" flooding, the sheriff said.

At least 120 people have been found dead since heavy rainfall overwhelmed the river and flowed through homes and youth camps in the early morning hours of July 4. Ninety-six of those killed were in the hardest-hit county in central Texas, Kerr County, where the toll includes at least 36 children.

Even in places where the floods have let up, the storm isn’t over: Floods can lead to excess deaths long after the actual event. “The health impacts of flooding aren’t just immediate,” wrote Katelyn Jetelina last week in her newsletter, Your Local Epidemiologist. “They often unfold over weeks and months.”

By all accounts, forecasters provided adequate warning — the problem was communicating the danger to residents.

The Economist/YouGov poll surveyed nearly 1,680 U.S. adults this week, and 52% blamed lack of government preparation for most of the deaths, mainly centered in Kerr County along the Guadalupe River.

At least 70 people, including at least 21 children, have died as a result of flash flooding in Texas after the Guadalupe River north of San Antonio flowed over its banks. The search for victims intensified June 6, as 11 children and a camp counselor remain missing from Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' camp at the river's edge.