As a succession of thunderstorms fed by the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry pummeled Texas' Hill Country, tools used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to detect extreme rainfall began “maxing out the color charts.

"There's no such thing as a natural disaster," geographers like to say -- a reminder that human choices turn hazards into tragedies.

In the early hours of Independence Day, rain pelted sleeping communities in central Texas. No one knew yet how devastating the storm would become.