Officials in flood-stricken central Texas on Wednesday again deflected mounting questions about whether they could have done more to warn people ahead of devastating flash flooding that killed at least 119 people on July 4.

The mission proved to be much more arduous than expected for her and her small crew of four, all of whom are first tour aviators.

The survival of people in local camps and low-lying areas depended not on official evacuations but on whether they were paying attention, on their own, to weather alerts in the middle of the night.

Nearly a week after deadly floods struck Central Texas, search and rescue teams are continuing to probe debris for those still missing.