Scholars and designers of early warning systems say that there are still huge gaps in our ability to predict flash floods and warn those at risk.

Officials in Texas are under scrutiny for a string of refusals to fund early warning systems for flash floods in an area where sudden, intense rainfall is frequent.

Those measures could have included river gauges and warning sirens that could have alerted people that their lives were in imminent danger. The floods that raged down the Guadalupe River eight days ago killed at least 121 people, including at least 36 children.

But global experts in early warning systems said that there are few examples of places around the world that have mastered the choreography of forecasting and communication needed to prevent loss of life in extreme rain events. And in many cases, like in Texas this month, accurate forecasting alone is not enough to prevent calamity.

“Flash floods