With more than 170 still missing, communities must reconcile how to pick up the pieces around a waterway that remains both a wellspring and a looming menace.

The flooding brought the Guadalupe to its second-highest point in history, according to the National Weather Service, which urged people in the affected area to move to higher ground.

The Guadalupe River has a history of deadly flooding. Here is a look over the decades. (AP video Marshall Ritzel/Albee Zhang)