After days of torrential rain in South Texas, at least two people have died as rivers overflowed their banks, floodwaters swept away vehicles, and authorities carried out daring rescues in an area still recovering from last year’s deadly floods.
The storm caused catastrophic flooding in some areas, with rainfall totals topping 25 inches in the Hill Country west of Austin and South Texas, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) office covering Austin and San Antonio.
Dramatic rescues played out across the Lone Star State, some by helicopter and some by boat. A Texas Department of Public Safety video shows a high-water rescue of a family and their dogs from a flooded house. Texas game wardens saved people in a vehicle on July 14, right before it was swept away in floodwaters west of Sabinal in Uvalde County.
Officials warned that the danger is far from over as rivers continue to swell, unleashing raging torrents. More than 100 roads have been washed out, making rescues and evacuations more difficult.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced during a news conference with Saronic Technologies Inc. on July 16 that one person had died in the flooding. At least one other person died as well.
The Austin American-Statesman reported that early on July 16, flooding near tributaries of the Guadalupe River near Comfort had swept away a mobile home with a man inside. It wasn’t immediately known if the confirmed death was that of the man in the mobile home.
Abbott said sirens installed in the wake of the Camp Mystic tragedy performed as expected at about 4 a.m. on July 16, except for one siren that didn’t sound immediately but did go off a few minutes later.
The governor said 70 people have been rescued so far.
“Our number one focus is saving lives,” he said. “There have been evacuations.”
He said the brunt of the flooding was hitting downstream of Kerrville near the town of Comfort.
The NWS reported that a “flash flood emergency” had been issued around 5:30 a.m. on July 16 for the Guadalupe River near the towns of Center Point, Comfort, and Bergheim.
“A large and deadly flood wave is moving down the river,” the agency said on Facebook. “The river gauge at Center Point has risen 32 feet in 4 hours!”
On July 15, Abbott said during a weather briefing that at least 1,300 state personnel from 30 agencies had been activated as a slow-moving system continued to dump rain on the state.
“We are dealing with and responding to a flood that is likely going to break records,” Abbott said during the briefing.
The governor noted that as of July 14, he had issued a disaster declaration for 59 counties.
