Cries for help came from the pitch-black woods, from rooftops and from attics that shifted unsteadily as the water rose. Firefighters and police raced to help, having little guidance on where or how. Top emergency leaders were asleep or out of town.

Using recordings of first responder communications, weather service warnings, survivor videos and official testimony, The Associated Press has assembled a chronology of the chaotic rescue effort as a flash flood barreled east through the Hill Country of Central Texas before dawn on July 4.

The flooding killed at least 136 people - including more than two dozen children and counselors at Camp Mystic, a century-old summer camp for girls that was among the first areas inundated.

Here are some of the harrowing moments:

In a Slack chat, a Nation

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