By Moses Leos III
Three people are dead and 11 people are still missing after the Blanco River swelled to a historic level of 43.2 feet early Sunday, causing extensive damage in the Wimberley and San Marcos areas.
Authorities said Tuesday that search and rescue and recovery operations are ongoing and that the search is extending throughout the river. Many areas, however, are still not accessible. According to officials, search teams continue to comb through debris piles.
On Sunday, officials confirmed the discovery of a man’s body in San Marcos as the first death associated with the flood. On Tuesday, officials confirmed two more bodies found, one in Caldwell County and another at the Blanco River on RM 2325.
The identities of the one female and two male victims hasn’t been released.
Hays County decreased the number of missing to 11 after two were found safe Tuesday. According to reports, eight are believed to be part of a group visiting Wimberley from Corpus Christi.
All of this came as a result of extensive flooding that occurred late Saturday and into early Sunday in Hays County. According to officials, up to 70 homes were destroyed and up to 1,400 homes and businesses that have sustained damage or loss.
Officials have not calculated an estimated cost at this time, as crews continue to assess the damage.
One of the hardest hit areas was Wimberley, which experienced the brunt of flooding.
Infrastructure in Wimberley was affected as the Fischer Store Road Bridge and the Jacobs Well Road Bridge were destroyed. It is unknown at this time how much it will cost to repair the bridges, or when reconstruction efforts would begin.
Part of the flood was caused by the up to 11 inches of rain that fell Saturday in neighboring Blanco County. The influx of rain created flooding of the Blanco River, which extended downstream, slamming into Wimberley. Over a span of three hours, from 10 p.m. Saturday to 1 a.m. Sunday, the Blanco River in Wimberley rose from 8.98 feet to 40.21 feet. Officials estimate the Blanco rose to 43.2 feet.
Hays County Precinct No. 3 Commissioner Will Conley described the flow of water as a “tsunami.”
“It was a large body of water that came down the Blanco River and destroyed everything in its path, Conley said.
Conley said the county is developing strategies with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority on how to “recover from devastation and get the Blanco River in working order.”
The water continued downstream toward Kyle and San Marcos where the Blanco River in Kyle reached 36.52 feet at 2:15 a.m. Sunday. In San Marcos, flooding extended from River Road on the east side of town, to Aquarena Springs on the West side.
Many homes and businesses were affected, and were underwater for several hours. It prompted the city to use the San Marcos Activity Center (SMAC) and several schools as shelters to house the stranded.
At its peak, more than 1,000 people made their way to shelters. The swift movement of the water caught many by surprise, as some were forced to climb to the roofs of their homes or into trees to escape the water.
Across the county, numerous swift water rescues were conducted by fire departments from Kyle, San Marcos and agencies assisting them.
But the floodwaters left a wide swath of devastation in their wake. For several hours Sunday, the floodwaters forced the closure of IH-35 at the Blanco River.
It prompted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to add Hays County to a disaster declaration; President Barack Obama declared Texas a disaster area Tuesday.
San Marcos Emergency Operations Coordinator Ken Bell said the event is something he believes will have a long, lasting impact on Hays County.
“Hays County is going to be recovering from this for years,” Bell said. “This is going to have a lasting impact for a long time. This is catastrophic.”
