UVALDE \u2014 Heavy rainfall overnight brought a second day of flooding west of San Antonio, sending rivers and creeks over their banks and leading to dozens of people being rescued from rising water in Uvalde County and Kendall County.<\/p>\n
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About 1 p.m., Uvalde officials ordered mandatory evacuations along the Leona River, saying a 20-foot-wall of water was expected to make its way downstream and into town.<\/p>\n
City officials disputed reports that the Leona Dam on the river in the northern part of the county had given way, but warned residents that the river’s water level could rise by 15 feet in a short amount of time.<\/p>\n
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“The dam is intact,” the city said in a written statement. “However, the river gauge, located upstream on the Leona River, above\u00a0Uvalde, is reporting a 20 ft wall of water; it is expected to rise another 15 ft. If you live along the Leona River, we ask that you get to higher ground.”<\/p>\n
Uvalde Police Department spokesperson Juli\u00a0Alvarado said law enforcement officers were going door-to-door along the river telling people to leave; she said people outside city limits along the river have already been notified.<\/p>\n
Crews in Uvalde County rescued 24 people from rising water on Tuesday and another 25 were rescued overnight and into Wednesday morning,\u00a0Alvarado said. Three people were rescued from tractor-trailer rigs on Texas 55; they were uninjured and taken to a shelter in Uvalde, Alvarado said.<\/p>\n
More water rescues are underway in the northern part of the county, County Commissioner Roy Kothmann said.\u00a0 On Wednesday morning, crews in a helicopter were dropping people off along U.S. 83 near County Road 428. The road leads to the Deer Valley area, which was hard hit by flooding.<\/p>\n
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There have been no deaths or injuries\u00a0from the flooding and no one is currently missing, Alvarado said.<\/p>\n
In Boerne, the National Weather Service has issued a flood emergency, as flooding on\u00a0Cibolo Creek closed roads, cutting off some neighborhoods and leading to a number of water rescues, city officials say.<\/p>\n
A flash flood emergency is issued when a historic or catastrophic flooding event is occurring or is imminent. These situations pose an extreme threat to human life and can lead to catastrophic damage. The weather service warned people near the flooding areas to seek higher ground.<\/p>\n
A number of streets and highways remained closed throughout Uvalde County due to rising water, especially in areas north of Uvalde, closer to Concan and Utopia. Camp La Jita, a Girl Scout summer camp on the\u00a0Sabinal River near Utopia, was evacuated Tuesday afternoon ahead of potential flooding. The campers were taken by bus to San Antonio.<\/p>\n
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Both Uvalde and Sabinal have opened shelters for people displaced by the flooding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Nueces, Frio\u00a0and Sabinal rivers all were\u00a0projected to reach major flood stage by Wednesday afternoon or evening, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In\u00a0Uvalde on Wednesday morning,\u00a0the Leona River had risen out of its banks and over\u00a0Nopal Street. It flooded the Rotary Amphitheater, which is along the river next to the Willie de Leon Civic Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Flood debris wraps around a sign for the Rotary Amphitheater at Uvalde Memorial Park\u00a0on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
Flood debris wraps around railings at Uvalde Memorial Park in Uvalde on Wednesday after the Leona River flooded the park.<\/p>\n
Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
Precinct 4 Constable John Meyer and local attorney John Dodson stood watching the Leona River below\u00a0Dodson\u2019s law office on Nopal Street.<\/p>\n
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On Tuesday, the river had climbed about halfway up\u00a0Dodson\u2019s parking lot, tearing up pavement and sweeping away rail ties along the driveway.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was this deep and moving fast,\u201d\u00a0Dodson said, holding his hand up near his head.<\/p>\n
The river had receded by Tuesday evening, but Dodson and Meyer said they expected it to climb again Wednesday, with heavy rainfall north of the city flowing downstream.<\/p>\n
The heavy flow was far from the norm, as\u00a0\u201c364 days a year, the Leona is bone dry,\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n
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But on Wednesday morning it was running fast below U.S. 90 \u2014 and by his estimation, it was picking up speed, seemingly flowing faster than just an hour before, he said.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0U.S. Geological Survey gauge north of the city showed the Leona River had shot up from about 6 feet at 4 a.m. to more than 16 feet four hours later.\u00a0It was flowing at more than 3,000 cubic feet per second, up from less than 40 cfs before dawn.<\/p>\n
Other creeks in and around the city have also flooded, Meyer said, including Indian and\u00a0Montell creeks, which are both over roads and impassable.<\/p>\n
‘Come back with a vengeance’<\/p>\n
While there was a lull in the rain on Wednesday morning, officials are bracing for more to come, said state Rep. Don McLaughlin,\u00a0R-Uvalde.<\/p>\n
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“The rain’s going to come back with a vengeance again,” he said. “The rivers and creeks are going to be coming up, and they’re going to be coming up with a vengeance.”<\/p>\n
In Sabinal,\u00a0a town of 1,300 people about 20 miles east of Uvalde, some streets were flooded and blocked off and rain continued to fall shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday, but there was no indication rising water had made its way into buildings. Sabinal police and fire crews have conducted two water rescues this morning, Mayor Erik Gomez said in a social media post.<\/p>\n
While no mandatory evacuations are currently in place in Uvalde County, officials were asking people in some areas to leave, or prepare to do so.<\/p>\n
“Rain predictions in the northern part of the county will impact the rivers, creeks, and sloughs that flow through our town,” the\u00a0Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n
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“First-responders are addressing areas in our city and in the county that are already being affected by floodwater,” the agency said. “We are asking residents that live by those areas likely to be affected to evacuate, voluntarily, at this time.”\\<\/p>\n
The sheriff’s office did not specify where those areas are, and in a similar post, neither did the\u00a0Uvalde Police Department, though they did reference people living “around and near the Leona River.”<\/p>\n
Gomez, the mayor in Sabinal, also asked residents to be ready to leave homes on or near River Street, River Street Alley, Northwest Front Street, First Street, as well as other low-lying and flood-prone areas.<\/p>\n
People in those areas are “strongly encouraged to prepare for the possibility of a voluntary evacuation should conditions continue to worsen,” Gomez said<\/p>\n
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In the past 24 hours, up to 12 to 16 inches of rain has fallen in some areas of Uvalde and western Medina counties, according to the National Weather Service.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Residents check out a flooded section of East\u00a0Nopal Street in Uvalde on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n