Meteorologists say the Texas Hill Country is frequently hit with floods, although some officials and residents were caught off guard by the catastrophic storms, which killed more than 100 people over the holiday weekend.

There's no sense in finger-pointing over whether or not alerts went out fast enough in Texas, said Landry. As she sees it, preparing for the weather comes down to knowing the landscape where you live and planning out what to do if disaster strikes. "You have to be aware and prepared," she said.

The early warnings and alerts from the National Weather Service didn’t indicate a catastrophic flood was on its way.