Flash Flooding and Flooding in Texas, August 13 to 20, 2005

Runnels and Winters law enforcement officials reported up to a foot of water flooding streets in the town of Winters. Several vehicles stalled out in the flood waters.

State highway 163 from Sterling City north to the county line was closed due to 2 feet of water reported on the highway.

Very heavy rains of around 6 inches fell in addition to 6 inches of rain that had already fallen the past two days to produce flash flooding near the Rotan area. High water was reported across many low lying areas of Rotan. Highway 611 west of Rotan was also closed.

Nearly 10 inches of heavy rains over the past couple of days produced flooding of many roads over the western half of Throckmorton County.

Five to ten inches of rain over the past couple of days produced a period of flooding in portions of Jones county, especially along highway 83 where various locations were inundated.

Law enforcement officials reported numerous roads including highway 380 and U.S. 277 from Stamford to Haskell flooded from Sunday August 14th until August 17th. On Sunday August 14th, Red Cross and local law enforcement officials reported several homes were flooded in Rule. From Monday August 15th through August 17th rapidly rising waters from Lake Stamford flooded about 70 homes around the lake. Heavy rains of 10 to 12 inches over much of Haskell county and runoff caused the lake to rise 7 vertical feet in one night. Due to the low lake levels prior to the flood, many of the flooded homes were situated well into the lake bed. The lake continued to rise until the lake level reached the principle spillway. Approximately 150 people were displaced from their homes as many of the homes had five feet of water in them.

Law enforcement officials reported many roads across Fisher County were flooded from Sunday August 14th through August 17th. On the 14th, up to 3 feet of water was reported on the roads in Rotan. Many vehicles were also stalled in Rotan in the high water. Numerous roads around the county had water on them and several were closed. Heavy rains to near 10 inches over the past couple of days combined to produce flooding of many roads over the western half of Throckmorton County. Five to ten inches of rain over the past couple of days had combined to produce a period of flooding in portions of Jones county, especially along highway 83 where various locations were inundated.The Colorado river near Silver flooded due to heavy rains upstream of Silver the afternoon before. The river gauge at Silver rose above the 15 foot flood stage just before 10 P.M. local time and crested to 17.32 feet just before midnight. The river fell below flood stage near 3 A.M. the following morning. The North Concho river at Sterling City flooded due to heavy rains of up to 10 inches in the upper reaches of the North Concho river basing. The river gauge at Sterling City shows the river going above the 17 foot flood stage around 630 A.M. local time and cresting at 7 A.M. The river receded below flood stage at 8 A.M. The North Concho river at Carlsbad flooded due to very heavy rains of up to 10 inches in the upper reaches of the river basin as well as local rainfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches. The river rose above the 12 foot flood stage just after noon on the 15th and crested at 15.53 feet around 6:15 P.M. local time. The river feel below flood stage just before 3 A.M. on the 16th. This caused some secondary roads to flood at low water crossings. Grape Creek in northern Tom Green County also caused some flooding of secondary roads to the east of Carlsbad.Law enforcement reported numerous roads including highway 380 and U.S. 277 from Stamford to Haskell were flooded from Sunday August 14th until August 17th. On Sunday August 14th, Red Cross and local law enforcement reported that several homes were flooded in Rule. From Monday August 15th through August 17th rapidly rising waters from Lake Stamford flooded About 70 homes around the lake. Heavy rains of 10 to 12 inches over much of Haskell county caused the lake to rise 7 vertical feet in one night. Due to the recently low lake levels, homes were placed well into the lake bed causing about 70 homes around the lake to flood shortly after going over the principle spillway and well before it trickled over the emergency spillway. Approximately 150 people were displaced from their homes as many of the homes had five feet of water in them. Very heavy rains of 5 to 10 inches over the past several days produced flooding over much of Jones county. Numerous roads were closed for several days due to the high water and Lake Stamford just to the north of Jones County continued to rise. After the thunderstorms ended across Throckmorton County around 10 A.M. on the 16th area roads continued to remain flooded for another 24 hours after the rains had ended.

Another round of showers and thunderstorms on already saturated ground produced additional flooding in the community of Rule and flooded some homes.

Additional heavy rains produced another round of flooding across northern Sterling County. This caused some roads to become flooded again that had dried out from the day before.

The Colorado river near Silver flooded due to heavy rains upstream of Silver the afternoon before. The river gauge at Silver rose above the 15 foot flood stage just before 10 P.M. local time and crested at 17.32 feet just before midnight. The river fell back below flood stage near 3 A.M. the following morning.

As thunderstorms continued to move across portions of northwest Sterling County, heavy rainfall resulting from the storms caused additional flooding of area roads.

Very heavy rains continued to fall on the western and southern portions of Nolan County producing flash flooding and causing several roads to become inundated.

Showers and thunderstorms continued to repeatedly move over the same areas producing more flash flooding across much of Nolan County. County roads 170 and 236 were closed due to flooding.

The North Concho river at Sterling City flooded due to heavy rains of up to 10 inches in the upper reaches of the North Concho river basin. The river gauge at Sterling City shows the river going above the 17 foot flood stage around 630 A.M. local time and cresting at 7 A.M. The river fell below flood stage at 8 A.M.

State highway 158 was closed for a time west of Robert Lee due to flooding.

Very heavy rains of 5 to 10 inches over the past several days produced flooding over much of Jones county. Numerous roads were closed for several days due to the high water as Lake Stamford continued to rise.

The North Concho river at Carlsbad flooded due to very heavy rains of up to 10 inches in the upper reaches of the river basin as well as local rainfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches. The river rose above the 12 foot flood stage just after noon on the 15th and crested at 15.53 feet around 6:15 P.M. local time. The river fell below flood stage just before 3 A.M. on the 16th. This caused some secondary roads to flood at low water crossings. Grape Creek in northern Tom Green County also caused some flooding of secondary roads to the east of Carlsbad.

A period of very heavy rains in the morning hours produced flash flooding over a good portion of Throckmorton County. Most of the main highways were closed in and out of Throckmorton during this event.

California Creek to the east of Stamford flooded due to the very heavy rains of around 10 inches the past several days. California Creek rose above its 28 foot flood stage around 3 P.M. local time on the 16th and crested to near 28.44 feet just before 10 P.M. on the 16th. The river the fell below flood stage on the morning of the 17th around 5 A.M. local time.

After the thunderstorms ended across Throckmorton County around 10 A.M. on the 16th, area roads continued to remain flooded for another 24 hours.

The Clear Fork of the Brazos River near Fort Griffin received a moderate flood due to the widespread 10 inches of rain that feel in the basin over Haskell and Jones counties. This occurred even after the previously low water Lake Stamford, which was now in flood held back much of the water that would have flowed down the Clear Fork of the Brazos. The river rose above the 25 foot flood stage on the 16th around 9 P.M. local time and crested at 33.16 feet on the 18th at 4:30 P.M. local time. The river finally fell back to below flood stage on the 20th just before 8 P.M.