Flooding

[telophase]

For those of you not up on Texas weather (what? you're not?) the Texas hill country near Austin has been having bad flooding. My aunt and uncle live along the Blanco, which flooded this weekend. They're fine--they evacuated as the water was rising. There was about 3-4 feet of water inside the house at the high point.

This is from my mom, which mean's it's gone through 1 or 2 others to get to her and may be garbled. My mother reports that workmen have ALREADY been out to rip up carpet and estimate it'll be about 6 months before the house is fully restored, but only about 2 weeks before they can move back in. They had a bunch of trees on the common land between their house and the river that are just GONE. They got all 3 cars (theirs and my cousin's) out before the water swallowed the place--my uncle got there to pick up the last car and a few last items when the water was at his ankles, and it was up to his knees on the way out. There's a high-water mark on the outside at 5 feet. Crazy--the house is a good 10-15 feet above the usual waterline.

Comments

[yhlee]

Yikes. I wish your relatives the best--I'm so sorry to hear this.

[telophase]

Thanks. It's as good as it can be--they're old river hands (met while doing river tours, I think) and had good flood insurance, so it's a huge hassle but not as devastating as others have it.

[loligo]

After living through a similar experience, I hate water now. It's a shame that everything requires it for existence. (Hyperbole aside, they have my sympathy!)

[telophase]

I'm just mostly glad that Fort Worth isn't prone to flooding, and that we're up on a hill, so even if the creek nearby floods, we're in no danger at all.

[sleary.livejournal.com]

Yikes. I'm waiting for word on two elderly relatives in Wimberley. I suspect the lack of news means they've holed up at their kids' place in town and are too frazzled to check in with the extended family.

Somewhat worried about what the floodwaters will do when they reach Cuero and my grandparents' farm.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

They're most likely fine--last I heard there were just 8 missing and 1 dead (a firefighter who lost his footing during a rescue). If you haven't found the FB sites yet, there's a couple that are posting pictures and messages:

https://www.facebook.com/TexasHillCountry
https://www.facebook.com/groups/989207817778698/ (edit--correct URL)

Apparently my uncle was interviewed on the news yesterday or the day before, but I haven't figured out which channel it was.

Fingers crossed about your grandparents' farm!

[sleary.livejournal.com]

Thanks! They're ok.

In my opinion, if the flood takes the farmhouse, it will save us the trouble of demolishing it before we can remodel. Some of my relatives would not agree, though.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Silver linings, at least for some!