'Curse' of the monster river that's ripped the heart out of the nation

On a normal day, the Guadalupe River runs lazily through the scenic hills of Kerr County, Texas – past campsites where families sunbathe on its banks, fish for trout, or float gently downstream.

But in the early hours of July 4, after a torrential downpour, a black wall of water swept down the valley, tearing through everything in its path and leaving more than 100 people – including at least 27 camp counselors and children – dead. As rescuers and emergency services comb the destruction for bodies days later and families try to find their loved ones and salvage their homes – it seems at first glance like the floods were the worst kind of freak natural tragedy.

But now, experts have told the Daily Mail it was anything but a 'freak' event – in fact, they say the very features which make the river so scenic on a good day, made the disaster almost inevitable. 'They call this area of Texas flash flood alley,' Nicholas Pinter, a professor of Applied Geosciences at UC Davis, told the Daily Mail, 'I can't think of a place more susceptible to flash flooding in the country.'