Hovering above the debris-strewn Guadalupe River, drone pilot Jordy Marks scans the flood-ravaged landscape with a quiet determination. As part of a civilian search and rescue team, Marks is helping guide ground crews to areas still untouched nearly a week after deadly floodwaters swept through Central Texas.

“It’s a mystery to me why they weren’t taking proactive steps to move structures away from the risk, let alone challenging what seems like a very reasonable map that shows these structures were in th...

Since its construction in 1926, the camp — which promised cabins “snugly arranged” in a “picturesque bend” in the river — repeatedly experienced flood disruptions, including evacuations or damage to s...