Texas, 2001

Flash Flooding in Texas, August 31, 2001

August 31, 2001 · NWS EWX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

As the showers and thunderstorms continued moving southeastward, they entered Lavaca and DeWitt Counties just after midnight. Falling over soils that remained saturated from the extreme rainfall of the past two days, rain accumulations averaged almost three inches, with amounts over 6 inches in southern Gonzales County, across all but the eastern three-quarters of DeWitt County and the western…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
20
Property damage
$330,000
Crop damage
$230,000
Events
3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS EWX wrote it up.

As the showers and thunderstorms continued moving southeastward, they entered Lavaca and DeWitt Counties just after midnight. Falling over soils that remained saturated from the extreme rainfall of the past two days, rain accumulations averaged almost three inches, with amounts over 6 inches in southern Gonzales County, across all but the eastern three-quarters of DeWitt County and the western three-quarters of Lavaca County. Highest amounts were 10 inch totals between Cuero and Hocheim and Smiley, as well as along the DeWitt-Victoria County line. Water began flooding homes around Yorktown in the early morning hours, and twenty people had to be rescued from their homes. Police and firefighters used boats and trucks to move them to higher ground. They were able to return to their homes later in the afternoon.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 30, 8:00 PM CST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 30, 8:00 PM CST, 5 hours 30 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
900 PM CDT THU AUG 30 2001

NO CHANGES MADE TO ONGOING FORECAST...ACTIVITY PRESENTLY OCCURRING
OVER THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...IS LESSENING IN
INTENSITY.  ACTIVITY WHICH FORMED OVER THE WESTERN HILL COUNTRY...IN
RESPONSE TO AN EASTWARD MOVING DISTURBANCE...WAS WEAKENING SOMEWHAT
BUT MOVING SLOWLY EASTWARD.  THE HILL COUNTRY RAINS SHOULD BE MOVING
INTO THE SAN ANTONIO METRO AREA AROUND MIDNIGHT.

.EWX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH FRIDAY S CNTRL TX AND THE
       ADJACENT HILL COUNTRY.

02/19

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Lavaca

When
August 31, 1:30 AM CST to 5:00 PM CST
Where
Lavaca County, Countywide
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$100,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
29.384, -96.930 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, De Witt

When
August 31, 2:00 AM CST to 5:00 PM CST
Where
De Witt County, Countywide
Injuries
20 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$250,000
Crop damage
$100,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
29.082, -97.357 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Gonzales

When
August 31, 3:00 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where
Gonzales County, Countywide
Property damage
$30,000
Crop damage
$30,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
29.457, -97.492 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5260992, 5260993, 5260994.