(The Center Square) – One year after the historic flood event that took 139 lives in the Texas Hill Country, residents are evacuating as rain continues to pummel the region.
“Yes, it is happening again! Please pray for our area again,” Hill Country artist, architect and sculptor Max Greiner, Jr., told The Center Square in an email. Greiner developed a 24.5-acre prayer garden in Kerrville where thousands gathered over the July 4 weekend to commemorate the 139 lives lost last year during the historic Hill Country flood.
Gov. Greg Abbott has explained that the amount of rain Texas has received in the last few days, more than 30 inches, was 10 inches more than what caused a flash flood last July 4. Last year, a torrential downpour caused the Guadalupe River to rise far more quickly in the middle of the night, causing a 30-foot wave of water to tear through cabins and homes, sweeping away homes, people, livestock pets and vehicles in its wake.
Over the last week, areas of central and south Texas have gotten more than 30 inches of rain as rivers are now topping 37 feet. Catastrophic flooding is expected Thursday night as already drenched land is saturated and rivers are overflowing with nowhere for the water to go.
Last year, the Guadalupe River flooded Kerrville and Hunt in the Hill Country in the middle of the night. Due to systemic county and local emergency alert failures, most residents and visitors were caught unaware while key county leaders were sleeping or out of town, The Center Square reported. Emergency preparedness failures last year haven’t been repeated after the state legislature implemented reforms, news alerts have been constant throughout the day, and thousands of emergency personnel are positioned statewide.
In Kerr County, the Guadalupe River crested at 20 feet in Hunt and at 38 feet in Center Point downstream. Residents of Comfort have evacuated after the Guadalupe River rose 30 feet in a matter of hours. The county is among more than 50 that are in a state of disaster.
The flood waters so far haven’t been as devastating in terms of loss of life, Greiner said. Last year, 139 people died, including 119 on the Guadalupe River alone. That was after the river rose 20 feet in 45 minutes, “in the dark, in the middle of the night.”
Unlike last year, “there were lots of warnings this time,” including through the local news and multiple phone alerts “repeatedly over and over all night,” he said. New river warning sirens were also activated and working, he said. As the water rose, the sirens went off.
More people “paid much more attention to the TV warnings, stayed alert all night and prayed. This saved lives,” he said.
Rivers in central and south Texas have reached historic heights. The Sabinal River has reached nearly 20 feet after being dry for years.
“The river is the highest it’s been in 25 years flooding the streets,” Utopia resident Ben Taylor told The Center Square. Roads are closed in many parts of the small rural town.
Taylor, who lives in a drought-stricken area of the state, told The Center Square, “My next door neighbors and I have measured 24.2 inches of rain since Monday morning to this Thursday afternoon. The volume of water has been such that the Sabinal River is now flowing over the highway bridge between my house and downtown Utopia. In this area, there has seldom been any water flow at all for most of the past 8-10 years.
“When I had my water well drilled in 1982, the water level in my well from the surface was at 80 feet. After a recent laser measurement, from surface to water it was 260 feet in a 300 feet well. I’ve had many friends locally who have had to re-drill their wells deeper because they went dry. If we’re lucky this kind of heavy saturation will bring the water table back so that some wells will be revived.”
In neighboring Bandera, the “Cowboy Capital of the world,” search and rescue volunteers with the United Cajun Navy rescued horses trapped in flood waters.
In Boerne, north of San Antonio, vehicles are submerged and water is reaching townhomes in hilly areas that don’t normally flood, social media posts online show.
The Pedernales River in Johnson City has topped 22 feet. At Pedernales Falls, “more than a foot of rain has fallen across parts of the Pedernales watershed since midnight. Forecasters say the river could reach its highest level since 1979, calling this a generational flood event,” CBS News Austin reported.
A flash flood emergency is in effect for Gillespie and Blanco counties.
Cibolo Creek at Sutherland in Wilson County has reached 19 feet. In Uvalde County, the Frio River at Concan reached 19 feet and at Dry Frio more than 19 feet; the Nueces River below Uvalde reached 26.5 feet, according to the latest river gauge measurements published by the Houston Chronicle.
Homes are flooding in Uvalde near the Leona River, the Weather Channel reported.
Roads are closed in many towns. According to the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office, all roads in the Brackettville area are closed, including Highway 90 west of Brackettville to Del Rio.
The highway is also closed in Uvalde, which is largely underwater. “Do not attempt to cross low water crossing or drive around road closure barriers,” Sherrif Brad Coe warned.
Deputy Armando Garcia said, “All other roads that lead through Uvalde are also closed. In Kinney County, RR2523, RR334, RR674 and Tularosa Road are closed. More flooding is expected.”
Kinney County residents in Brackettville and at Fort Clark are experiencing flooding, Coe said.
“Ok America – we need your help again,” U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from the Hill Country, said. “Flooding is ravaging the Hill Country again. A new fund has been set up by the community foundation. Please consider helping again! God bless.”
After the July 4 disaster, the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country managed more than $150 million donated to the Kerr County Relief Fund, which was established to provide financial assistance with a range of recovery efforts, The Center Square reported.
