ms_tapestry
06-27-2007, 02:16 PM
Dang! Will someone turn off the water works please?
Torrential storms flooded parts of central Texas early Wednesday, stranding dozens of people on roofs, in trees and in vehicles, and the weather was so treacherous that some helicopter rescue attempts had to be abandoned.
The worst flooding was in Williamson, Lampasas and Burnet counties in the Texas Hill Country northwest of Austin.
"We got hard facts of 18-plus inches of rain in a couple of those places since midnight," Austin-Travis County emergency medical services spokesman Warren Hassinger said just after 7 a.m. More rain was expected, the National Weather Service said.
There were no immediate reports of deaths Wednesday, but it was the latest in a series of storms blamed for at least 11 deaths in the past week in Texas.
Parts of Oklahoma also were soaked Wednesday, with rain falling on Oklahoma City for the 15th consecutive day, breaking a 70-year-old record.
The rain was heaviest in the Marble Falls area, about 40 miles northwest of Austin, where Mayor Raymond Whitman said 32 people had to be rescued from high water. He said two bridges were washed out and the city water plant was damaged.
"This is the worst I've ever seen it in my lifetime," said Whitman, 47, who has lived in the town his entire life.
The weather was so stormy during the early morning that helicopter crews had to abandon several rescue attempts, Hassinger said. He said four rescue attempts were halted before dawn and he didn't know what happened to the people needing help.
One aborted rescue mission had attempted to get four people from the roof of a house in Granite Shoals, where water was about 4 feet from the top of the building. They had pulled a possible drowning victim from the water, Hassinger said.
One successful helicopter-assisted rescue plucked a Williamson County sheriff's deputy and another person from atop the lawman's car along the San Gabriel River near Georgetown, Hassinger said.
The Texas National Guard sent about 150 troops and 50 vehicles to help in central Texas and other areas from the Oklahoma state line to the Rio Grande Valley.
Ray Thomas and his wife fled their house on a peninsula between the North and South San Gabriel rivers at about 4:45 a.m., after hearing an emergency weather radio bulletin.
"We're lucky we got out," he said. "In September we were praying for rain. What worries me now is the rain that's still to come."
On Tuesday, residents of at least 50 homes had to be evacuated from a flooded subdivision near Lake Granbury, about 60 miles southwest of Dallas. Rescuers used boats and jet skis to remove the people as Robinson Creek rose out of its banks. About 30 of those homes were destroyed, said Hood County Sheriff Gene Mayo.
About 30 evacuees spent Wednesday morning at the First United Methodist Church in Granbury, the Rev. Neil Norman said.
"There's some shock because the water must have come up extremely quickly," Norman said. "This is all pretty much hard to believe."
In Oklahoma, about 20 firefighters had to use a raft to rescue 16-year-old twin sisters from their car, stalled in rushing bumper-deep water Tuesday.
The Oklahoma City area received about an inch of rain in 24 hours, bringing the city's annual total to 28.03 inches — about 10 inches above normal. Flooding closed some roads Wednesday in central and northeastern Oklahoma.
"Anytime it rains there's going to be the threat of heavy downpours, it's not out of the question for any one area to get three inches," weather service meteorologist Ty Judd said Wednesday in Norman, Okla.
A 13-year-old boy died in the Dallas suburb of Garland Tuesday night after being washed down a flooded creek, police spokesman Joe Harn said. He was found a mile downstream about two hours later, Harn said.
Torrential storms flooded parts of central Texas early Wednesday, stranding dozens of people on roofs, in trees and in vehicles, and the weather was so treacherous that some helicopter rescue attempts had to be abandoned.
The worst flooding was in Williamson, Lampasas and Burnet counties in the Texas Hill Country northwest of Austin.
"We got hard facts of 18-plus inches of rain in a couple of those places since midnight," Austin-Travis County emergency medical services spokesman Warren Hassinger said just after 7 a.m. More rain was expected, the National Weather Service said.
There were no immediate reports of deaths Wednesday, but it was the latest in a series of storms blamed for at least 11 deaths in the past week in Texas.
Parts of Oklahoma also were soaked Wednesday, with rain falling on Oklahoma City for the 15th consecutive day, breaking a 70-year-old record.
The rain was heaviest in the Marble Falls area, about 40 miles northwest of Austin, where Mayor Raymond Whitman said 32 people had to be rescued from high water. He said two bridges were washed out and the city water plant was damaged.
"This is the worst I've ever seen it in my lifetime," said Whitman, 47, who has lived in the town his entire life.
The weather was so stormy during the early morning that helicopter crews had to abandon several rescue attempts, Hassinger said. He said four rescue attempts were halted before dawn and he didn't know what happened to the people needing help.
One aborted rescue mission had attempted to get four people from the roof of a house in Granite Shoals, where water was about 4 feet from the top of the building. They had pulled a possible drowning victim from the water, Hassinger said.
One successful helicopter-assisted rescue plucked a Williamson County sheriff's deputy and another person from atop the lawman's car along the San Gabriel River near Georgetown, Hassinger said.
The Texas National Guard sent about 150 troops and 50 vehicles to help in central Texas and other areas from the Oklahoma state line to the Rio Grande Valley.
Ray Thomas and his wife fled their house on a peninsula between the North and South San Gabriel rivers at about 4:45 a.m., after hearing an emergency weather radio bulletin.
"We're lucky we got out," he said. "In September we were praying for rain. What worries me now is the rain that's still to come."
On Tuesday, residents of at least 50 homes had to be evacuated from a flooded subdivision near Lake Granbury, about 60 miles southwest of Dallas. Rescuers used boats and jet skis to remove the people as Robinson Creek rose out of its banks. About 30 of those homes were destroyed, said Hood County Sheriff Gene Mayo.
About 30 evacuees spent Wednesday morning at the First United Methodist Church in Granbury, the Rev. Neil Norman said.
"There's some shock because the water must have come up extremely quickly," Norman said. "This is all pretty much hard to believe."
In Oklahoma, about 20 firefighters had to use a raft to rescue 16-year-old twin sisters from their car, stalled in rushing bumper-deep water Tuesday.
The Oklahoma City area received about an inch of rain in 24 hours, bringing the city's annual total to 28.03 inches — about 10 inches above normal. Flooding closed some roads Wednesday in central and northeastern Oklahoma.
"Anytime it rains there's going to be the threat of heavy downpours, it's not out of the question for any one area to get three inches," weather service meteorologist Ty Judd said Wednesday in Norman, Okla.
A 13-year-old boy died in the Dallas suburb of Garland Tuesday night after being washed down a flooded creek, police spokesman Joe Harn said. He was found a mile downstream about two hours later, Harn said.