Flash Flooding in Texas, June 21 to 22, 1997

The heavy rain Friday night into Saturday afternoon had left South Central Texas soils saturated. The situation worsened Saturday evening into Sunday as heavy rain associated with the upper low pressure system redeveloped over the western Texas Hill Country. Very heavy rains over the Texas Hill Country Saturday night and Sunday morning caused widespread flooding as well as flash flooding across numerous counties. The heavy rains moved into San Antonio Sunday morning and into the Austin area later in the morning. By Sunday afternoon and evening, areas of showers and thunderstorms had diminished over South Central Texas as the upper low moved into North Texas. Late Sunday evening, they again developed over the Texas Hill Country, producing additional severe flooding and flash flooding late Sunday night into Monday morning.Rainfall amounts for the three rain events, including the period from Friday through Monday, averaged between 4 and 6 inces, with over 15 inches across many locations in the Texas Hill Country. The least amount of rain fell in the Del Rio area, west of the low, while the most rain fell over parts of the Texas Hill Country. The heaviest rain amounts fell in Bandera County, where over 20 inches was reported. Bandera measured 19.47 inches of rain in 2 days, while 21 inches of rain was measured 4 miles west of Tarpley in Bandera County.Guadalupe River...The Guadalupe River first crested at Comfort at 25.9 feet (73,640 cfs) early on June 22nd, then an additional 4.5 inches of rain in the Cypress Creek drainage sent a flood wave downstream that flooded homes in Comfort. Downstream, the Guadalupe at Spring Branch rose to within a foot of the flood of record, 45.45 feet. Canyon Lake rose to within 5 feet of the record elevation and within 6 feet of the emergency spillway height.Cibolo Creek...A general rainfall of 12 to 15 inches between Bandera and Boerne, with up to 20 inches west of Boerne, produced flooding along Cibolo Creek that filled two flood retention dams as well as Boerne City Lake. The Boerne Police Chief was trapped in his home by the flood wave down the spillway, and reported a television set washing through the window of one of the flooded homes. Cibolo Creek in Boerne crested at over 16 feet, the highest level since 1964. About 20 percent of the homes facing Cibolo Creek were flooded to some extent. Downstream, the Creek flooded several homes in Bulverde. The most massive damage was in Schertz, where blocks of the Pecan Grove Trailer Park were inundated. Trailers washed downstream into each other, lodging in trees. The Red Cross reported 330 persons evacuated and seeking alternate housing. The flood wave reached LaVernia early Monday afternoon, flooding two homes, and causing 25 families to be evacuated.Medina River...No homes were flooded in Bandera, however, several trailer camps were flooded. By Sunday, all the city park was evacuated. Bandera received a storm total of 19.47 inches for the two days. Although the city of Bandera did not receive large flood damage, Bandera County was very hard hit. About four miles west of Boerne, Castle Lake Dam failed, sending a large wave down Bear Creek and washing out a road and bridge. Downstream, Privilege Creek washed out a primary bridge on SH16 at Pipe Creek. Bridges were washed out on nearly every creek in Eastern Bandera County. A few homes were flooded as Medina Lake crested by mid afternoon on Sunday.Leon Creek in Bexar County....Leon creek flooded a trailer park in western San Antonio as well as homes in Rodriguez Park area. Water also got just to the slab of the jet engine test facility at Kelly AFB. The gauge at IH35 crested at 1930 CST at 24.61 feet, exceeding the flood of record set in 1987.Hondo Creek...Although Hondo Creek did no structural damage near Hondo, it did close Hwy 90 for a while. The main problems were along Quihi Creek and Seco Creek. Quihi Creek flooded homes and caused evacuations in Quihi, about 8 miles northeast of Hondo. Seco Creek...The town of D'Hanis was so completely under water that someone could have ridden a boat down main street. This was the fourth such occurrence since 1932. The high water mark on businesses on main street was around 2.5 feet above the road on the store fronts. The bank reported about 6 inches of water in it. D'Hanis was inundated by Parker Creek from the east first, then Seco Creek flooded the town from the west. Although every building in town suffered damage, no lives were lost.Sabinal River...Residents in Sabinal reported no known flooding problems in the near Sabinal. However there were reports of many evacuations of homes and mobile homes. Severe flooding was reported upstream near Utopia, where recreation camps were badly damaged. A park ranger in Garner State Park reported that 31 cars were washed downstream. The River at the highway 90 gauge showed massive lowland flooding, with trees stripped of bark, and evidence of debris high in the trees. The Sabinal River at Sabinal crested at 33.12 feet, just 2 inches below the flood of record of 1958.Frio River...Uvalde County deputies spent several hours rescuing people from trees along the Frio River in the northern part of the county. Numerous helicopter rescues were also required. Indications are that the same tremendous rain that involved the Sabinal River, also fell in the Frio River tributaries east of the mainstem near Leakey. Rainfall was quite variable but reports point to massive rainfall and flooding along the Frio, and its tributaries. The heavy rain area extended from Camp Wood along the escarpment to near Boerne. The high water mark in Garner State Park was 15 feet above the low dam and about 3 feet up the restroom walls. Some restrooms were washed downstream and wrecked trailers were found along the bank, and even lodged several feet up in a tree.Nueces River...The headwaters of the Nueces River above Camp Wood also received very heavy rainfall. Again, numerous homes were flooded and rescues required along the river in Uvalde County, although less than had occurred along the Frio River.Pedernales River...A brief burst of between 6 and 12 inches of rain in the Pedernales River headwaters early Sunday morning above Harper sent near record flooding downstream. The Pedernales River at Fredericksburg crested early Sunday morning, with the flood damage not serious until the wave reached LBJ National Park, near Stonewall. A 22 foot rise was reported downstream at the higher bridge. Inside the park, several concrete and steel signs were damaged, and there was also significant damage to roads. At Johnson City, the crest was well below the 1952 flood of record and there was no significant damage in this reach. Llano River...Tremendous flow down the James River, reinforced by 8 to 15 inch rainfall east of Mason Sunday afternoon and evening, sent the Llano River at Llano to over 38 feet shortly near midnight Sunday night, some 6 feet above the 1952 flood of record. Several buildings and a dozen homes were flooded in Llano, and major damage was reported to the city park. At least two dozen homes were flooded between Llano and Castell and 5 to 6 homes flooded south of Llano. At Kingsland, complete destruction was reported to docks along the River above Lake LBJ. Most boats were destroyed, although no homes were flooded. Along the Colorado River, over a dozen homes and lodges were flooded. Flooding along Lake Marble Falls on the north side of Lake LBJ, involved some 35 homes on one side alone. At Lake Marble Falls, inflow was so great that the lake volume was being replaced every 12 minutes on Sunday evening. An additional rainfall amounts of up to six inches fell south of the San Antonio area between 9 am and noon on Sunday. Although Saturday's flooding fell on relatively sparsely populated ranch land, the flooding on Sunday fell in highly populated river recreational areas, filled with weekend campers. Most roads in Frio and Atascosa counties were closed with several homes flooded in Dilley. The flooding moved eastward on Monday into DeWitt and Lavaca Counties. Rainfall for the two days in the two counties averaged from 3 to 6 inches, with isolated totals of up to 12 inches. Massive flooding was reported on Coleto Creek and Sandies Creek. The Navidad River In Lavaca County crested 2 feet above flood stage, causing widespread lowland flooding.The Red Cross and FEMA totals for homes and businesses damaged or destroyed in this flood in South Central Texas included nearly 300 homes across the Highland Lakes northwest of the Austin area. In addition, homes and businesses damaged or destroyed numbered approximately 200 in Guadalupe County, 150 in each of Bandera and Bexar Counties, 100 in each of Medina and Kendall Counties, and 50 in each of Real, Uvalde and Comal Counties.A 76-year old man in Medina County was drowned in the early morning on Sunday. He was in a vehicle with his wife near 130 am CST and apparently drove around a barrier on Hondo Creek about 4 miles south of Yancey on FM462. The vehicle was swept into the creek and his wife was able to climb out of the vehicle after it came to rest along a fence about 50 feet downstream. Her husband was unable to escape.The flooding claimed a victim in Bandera County during the early morning hours on Sunday. Someone had reported seeing a car with a man and his wife swept off SH16 over Bandera Creek, at the eastern edge of Bandera. When firemen and deputies arrived on the scene, they heard a call for help from the man who had caught onto a tree. The woman, 59 years old and unable to escape from the vehicle, was drowned.A third death during the Hill Country rain event also occurred in the early morning hours in Bandera County. A 41-year old man and his friend were driving in a truck on HWY 16. Flooding waters out of Privilege Creek swept the car off the bridge and into the creek. One of the two men was able to swim to safety, but the other drowned. This occurred within about 4 miles of the site where the woman drowned.