Guadalupe River flooding

Vito - the heavy rain and flooding is not originating in the Austin area. No...it starts 75-100 miles west in what is referred to as Texas' Hill Country - land west of Kerrville, along the Guadalupe, Medina, Sabinal and Frio rivers. This is ranch land with little underbrush, lots of Mesquite, Oak and Pecan trees, and very few residents. In fact, the Hill Country is the world's largest producer of pecans.

Hill Country towns are 20+ miles apart, many with populations of 500 or fewer people even today. Many of those small towns were founded by German, Polish and Czech immigrants during the 1840s-1890s. Perhaps this spartan environment explains why this thinly populated area contributed an out-sized percentage of our military heroes, including Admiral Chester Nimitz (Commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet throughout WW II), and Texas A&M graduate MG James Rudder (a graduate of the original class of Army Rangers who, as a Lt. Col. in charge of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, led the successful assault on Pointe du Hoc during the Normandy invasion).

The Hill Country is semi-arid, with annual rainfall of less than 20". Consequently, those towns have no need for sewer or similar infrastructure, and their counties couldn't justify building it for "once every 50 year" flood control, never mind paying for it if they did build it.

Rivers in those areas are spring-fed, rarely more than 3' in depth and have shallow banks often 1/2 mile wide. The area's soil is a chalky/sandy mix that does not support vegetation undergrowth. Consequently, Hill Country rainfall doesn't soak in, but instead runs off into the rivers. During the very infrequent heavy rains, the run-off quickly turns into floods that make their way, unimpeded, into the rivers that run through the Austin, New Braunfels and San Antonio area.

I have personal knowledge of this area. A great uncle once lived, and is buried in Medina (population 1,500), which is 20 miles south of Kerrville and 15 miles north of Bandera (self-proclaimed Cowboy Capital of the World). Many of the Hill Country's little towns sprouted up during the 1860s - 1880s cattle drives, when longhorn herds were driven to Nebraska, Wyoming and similar places. Much of the cattle drive activity along the Goodnight-Loving Trail and Chisolm Trail originated in this part of the Hill Country, and those cattle drives were the inspiration for author/screenwriter Larry McMurtry's novel and mini-series Lonesome Dove. In fact, Lonesome Dove actor Tommy Lee Jones was born and still lives on a ranch in San Saba, population 500, which is about 100 miles north of Kerrville on SH 16. [So, Jones' Capt. Call accent isn't fake. It's real, so real that Jones once mused whether he earned his pay for this part.]

McMurtry wrote many novels and screen plays that were situated in the Hill Country, and he is widely acknowledged as one of Texas' best historians about "Texas' old west."

 

The camp director and co-owner of Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, died in the catastrophic flooding as he reportedly raced to save the lives of his young campers.

Dick Eastland, who purchased the camp in 1974, died after the wall of water crashed through the Christian summer camp, which is located along the banks of the Guadalupe River, Texas Public Radio reported.

The report cited a Facebook post from Eastland's nephew, though the post has since been taken down.

Counselors, former campers and politicians who knew Eastland praised him for his heroic actions and ultimate sacrifice to save his campers.
 
At a news conference this morning, Kerr County officials said there were 59 confirmed fatalities in the flooding, including 21 children. They also said 11 campers and one counselor are unaccounted for.

How Sad,
Father confirms Blair and Brooke Harber died in Texas flooding
Blair Harber, 13, and her sister Brooke Harber, 11, have died after going missing during the catastrophic flooding in Kerr County, Texas, their father confirmed

Harber also shared that his parents, Charlene and Mike Harber, remain missing and are presumed dead.
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We have a lot of GREAT memories of camping, tubing, canoeing and fishing on the Gaudalupe. The first Rainbow Trouts Son and I caught were from the Gaudalupe. We spent most of our time tubing on the Gaudalupe down stream of Canyon Lake. Canyon is/was the second clearest lake in Texas, and we have snorkeled in it.
The flood was upstream of Canyon and I'm sure it will take a long time for Canyon to return to its former beauty from all of the debris being dumped in it.
Since the wife's dementia has been progressing rapidly last October, we drove the river road along the Gaudalupe in the 427 Vett for our last time.
 
It's appalling at the heartless, soul-less haters of people like those that Jim showed us.
Those are the very same O2 thieves who will cry when Karma catches up with them & say; "Why me? I want the government to help me!"

Luckily,, I haven't had anybody, in person, say such hateful evil things to me in public.
We lost 108 people here during Helene. Eleven,, (11) from ONE family! And nobody has said such evil stuff like that about our tragedy.

Those scum-bags don't deserve any sympathy from good people.
 
It's appalling at the heartless, soul-less haters of people like those that Jim showed us.
Those are the very same O2 thieves who will cry when Karma catches up with them & say; "Why me? I want the government to help me!"
This event is the saddest thing I can remember. And those "scumbags" mentioned above sound like they need prayers as well, even though it might take a bit longer for me to get to them…
 

National Weather Service issues new Texas flood watch, warning 'very intense' rainfall is possible



Additional rounds of heavy rainfall are forecast to continue across central Texas through at least Tuesday, raising concerns of further flooding in communities already devastated by storms that passed through the area during the Fourth of July weekend, according to FOX Weather.

As of Monday morning, the National Weather Service said a Flood Watch is in effect for more than a dozen counties in the Austin and San Antonio regions,through 7 p.m. this evening.

"There remains a threat of flash flooding from slow moving heavy rains overnight and through the day on Monday somewhere over the watch area. Difficult to pinpoint exact locations where isolated heavier amounts will occur," the NWS said in an advisory.

"An uptick in coverage and intensity of scattered showers and storms is possible overnight near the I-35 corridor and eastern Hill Country, developing west through the day on Monday. 2 to 4 inches of additional rainfall, with isolated amounts up to 10 inches, could fall anywhere over the watch area," the NWS added.

"Rainfall rates will be very intense in the heaviest showers and storms. Any additional heavy rainfall over hardest hit areas of the past few days will lead to rapid runoff and flash flooding," it also said.
 

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