The catastrophic Central Texas floods have claimed at least 121 lives and left 173 missing, as a report reveals that Kerr County officials were repeatedly denied state funding for an emergency flood warning system.

Over 12,000 volunteers have already assisted in Kerr County, according to the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

President Donald Trump met with victims' families and surveyed the damage of catastrophic floods that struck the state one week ago.

Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system, including failing to secure roughly $1 million US for a project to better protect Kerr County’s 50,

In the last nine years, federal funding for a system has been denied to the county as it contends with a tax base hostile to government overspending.

President Donald Trump travels to Texas on Friday amid growing questions about how local officials responded to the devastating floods, as well as questions about the federal response -- including FEMA's fate -- that he has so far avoided.

In the days after the devastating flood that killed dozens in Central Texas, local officials have deflected direct questions about preparations and warnings in advance of the storm that struck July Fourth.