Posted: Wed, 8 Sep 2010 03:18 PM - 7,620 Readers
By: Austin American-Statesman
Flooding leads to numerous rescues, at least one death; cleanup begins for widespread damage to homes, roads.
When forecasters predicted how much rain the remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine could pour onto Central Texas early Wednesday, they estimated that most of the area would see 1 to 3 more inches of rain, with isolated regions getting 12 inches or more.
As it turned out, parts of Austin and Williamson County became Hermine's prime dumping ground. At least one person died in the storms.
Much of the area is now left with the task of cleaning flooded homes, dealing with the damage of a major roadway in Northwest Austin and waiting to see whether floodwaters in the Colorado River pose a problem for cities further downstream.
Today, the cleanup and repairs begin in earnest. Crews will have to begin repaving a section of RM 2222 near Loop 360 after 50 feet of the road was destroyed by rushing water. Workers at Pearl Elementary in Georgetown will have to clean up 19 flooded classrooms. Workers who have been renovating parts of Bull Creek Park will have to start over after the creek swept away their improvements. Engineers will have to figure out what to do about the threat of more boulders tumbling onto Robert E. Lee Road near Zilker Park after one tumbled from the hill above and fell onto a car Wednesday.
State Farm, the largest insurer in Texas, said it had received more than 1,000 home and auto damage claims by 1 p.m. Wednesday and expected many more. Insurance companies — which sent teams of adjusters and other personnel to the Austin area to help handle the flood of claims — said Austin, San Antonio and Killeen were hit especially hard, although claims reports were not up to the level of a hailstorm that hit Central Texas in 2009.
By daybreak Wednesday, authorities had performed more than a dozen rescues in rushing floodwater, plucking stranded victims from homes and cars as the system delivered nearly 15 inches of rain to some spots.
The storm was responsible for at least one death, a 19-year-old woman in Killeen. A motorist in Austin remained unaccounted for after officials said she drove her car into water near Bull Creek and RM 2222.
Residents in two mobile homes and a house that flooded near Lake Granger in northeastern Williamson County were reported missing for much of the morning but were later located, Texas Parks and Wildlife spokesman Mike Cox said.
"I guess I believe in miracles at this point," said Carrie Arsenault, 38, of Austin, who survived after her car was swept away by water in West Austin. "I don't know how I am here."
Hermine remnants also caused thousands of power outages, shuttered schools and prompted the opening of several shelters. Numerous streets throughout the area were closed because of water, and Interstate 35 was closed for several hours overnight in Georgetown.
"Honestly, I don't remember a tropical storm in the Hill Country like we had," KVUE chief meteorologist Mark Murray said. "I'm sure it's happened, but it's been many years, if not decades."
Murray said the center of the storm continued moving north — instead of scooting to the east or west — which allowed trailing storms to linger over Austin and Williamson County for prolonged periods.
"The storms happened to run along I-35, and that is one of those things you can't tell is going to happen," said Joe Baskin, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. "That kind of caught us unaware."
The storm dumped a foot of rain in some locations, with the highest totals stretching from Mansfield Dam to Georgetown, which received 14 inches. About 11 inches fell in Jollyville. The average amount of rainfall for the month of September at Austin's Camp Mabry is 2.91 inches, forecasters said.
The high waters from the storm in the Colorado River will make their way to Bastrop, Smithville and La Grange over the next couple days, leading the river to exceed flood stage at those locations, Lower Colorado River Authority officials said.
The deluge prompted the LCRA to open five floodgates at Tom Miller Dam to pass water downstream from Lake Austin to Lady Bird Lake.
Austin officials did not identify the missing woman, whom they said drove her SUV into a water crossing near RM 2222 and Bull Creek and was swept away. The car was recovered about eight hours later, but the woman was not inside.
