Texas Flooding Kills 2, Leaves 3 Missing; Disaster Declared in Bastrop County

[kentauros]

Source: Weather Underground

Eric Chaney
Published: May 27, 2016

Two people have died and three are missing in Texas after a storm system fired up once again in the Plains, bringing heavy rain and severe flooding to parts of the region. Numerous rivers in the state are heading toward historic crests, and a disaster declaration has been made for Bastrop County, Texas, as more rain is forecast Friday into the weekend.

The Brenham Fire Department told KHOU 11 News one person died in a trailer home in Chappell Hill, Texas. The home was flooded as storms stalled over the Brenham area Thursday night. A second person apparently had a heart attack after driving into high water.

KHOU also reported a young man missing from his flooded vehicle in the same area. Two others are missing in the Austin area.

High waters covered roadways and prompted evacuations across the region Thursday and into Friday. Tornadoes that caused damage were also reported in the Lone Star State and Kansas, where twisters have been spotted for a third consecutive day.



Read more: https://www.wunderground.com/news/plains-deadly-severe-weather-outbreak-flooding-tornado

[TexasBushwhacker]

1. Poor Bastrop

They just had a horrible fire last fall. It burned 4500 acres and almost 50 homes.

[kentauros]

2. Earlier this spring, my father recommended a different route through Austin

than my normal one of 290 to FM 2222, in order to avoid the construction on MoPac. That different route took me through Bastrop, and for a while it was a nice drive. Lots of blooming wildflowers everywhere, and just a generally pretty landscape.

And then I was driving through the Lost Pines area. It was suddenly rather depressing. So many dead trees still standing, though it did look like people were trying to replant the pines. Too many of those plantings were too close together, so I hope they either thin them or do more plantings with some space between the trees.

It's continuing to pour down here, from when it started a few hours ago...

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. I think they plant lots of seedlings

assuming some won't survive.

Are you in the Houston area? We're getting thunderstorms right now.

[kentauros]

4. Yeah, I'm in the Willowbend area.

It's still coming down hard, and I thought that last break in the rain meant it was over. I guess not...

[catrose]

5. And another fire a few years before that

I'm very near to there and am busy being grateful. it rained, but not terribly so.

[kentauros]

11. One of the saddest parts about what has happened to Bastrop

is Bastrop State Park. It's been basically destroyed, by both fire and water. Most of the Lost Pines are gone, and last year's Memorial Day floods caused the earthen dam there to fail.

[catrose]

19. Very true

[Archae]

6. Isn't this the state that wants to secede?

[WatchWhatISay]

7. What does that have to do with anything?

What does that have to do with anything?

I don't think floods discriminate between the majority Republican assholes in the state and the rest of us

[Archae]

8. You're right, they don't.

But if the secession idiots get their way, no more federal disaster aid.

They don't think of that, do they?

[WatchWhatISay]

9. They don't think much about anything

They feel like thinking very deeply is a form of snobbishness. And unfortunately the rest of the country gets more like them every day

[kentauros]

10. You should probably look at real facts

before making asinine comments. Sure, I know DU's Texas-Haters have a major problem with keeping such asinine comments to themselves. But it would help show the rest of DU that you do accept the reality of the facts regarding so-called Texans who want to secede so you don't make a fool of yourself in the future.

The non-issue of Texas secession:

Texas Republicans Inch Closer to Secession

The Texas Nationalist Movement, once considered a quixotic fringe group, has added hundreds of members in the years since the election of Barack Obama. According to the Houston Chronicle's Dylan Baddour, at least 10 county GOP chapters are coming to the convention supporting independence resolutions.

"Hundreds of members" out of a total state population of 27,469,114.
"at least 10 county GOP chapters" out of 254 counties statewide. Even if 12 chapters show up, that's still less than five-percent of all counties in the state.

This is a non-issue, that even the Texas GOP is against.

Thank you, too, for showing once again how little compassion DU's Texas-Haters have for their fellow human beings in times of need

[Archae]

15. This is not "Texas hatred."

It's simply an observation of how a couple Texas politicians like Perry floated this stupid idea, backed by those "hundreds."

Are the supporters of Ted Cruz and Louie Gohmert the majority in Texas?

Maybe in certain areas, like Gohmert's district.

My own area, which includes Sheboygan, WI, elected Glenn Grothmann to the House.
Grothmann is a blithering idiot.

But by pandering to the right groups, he got elected.

[kentauros]

16. The fact that you're bringing this up in a thread about weather-related disasters

tells me that it is indeed about your distaste for Texas. Honestly, make a thread in the Texas group or GD if your distaste for all-things Texas can't be held back from any thread that features my home.

[Paladin]

22. We Texas DUers know "Texas hatred" when we see it.

You're guilty as charged.

[TBF]

18. If you had any decency you'd delete this post

do you have any idea how many votes Barack Obama got in Texas? We couldn't win the state because of the electoral college but in terms of the cities he was very popular. Not everyone is a secessionist down here and frankly the Dems should really think about whether they ever want to win the state. We have many workers down here - especially in the Houston area with the port and refineries. And just a tip, I am a Sanders supporter but I can tell you that Hillary is the stronger candidate in this state. Now why in the world would you want to piss off her supporters?

[polly7]

12. Terrible. :( nt.

[WatchWhatISay]

13. Bastrop is a pretty red area. As are most small towns in Texas

Bastrop is a pretty red area. As are most small towns in Texas. It's about 20 minutes outside of Austin and a lot of them are glad They are not in liberal Austin. And many of them live there because they can't afford to live in Austin.

Many of them lives in flood prone areas and have no hesitancy about taking federal aid and flood insurance money on a regular basis. And would love to tell you how much they hate all those people on welfare.

It's hard to have compassion for some of these people, but remember Not all Texans are like this.

[kentauros]

14. Well, thankfully emergency responders

don't ask people how they vote before choosing whether to help them or not. I get the strong intuition that some "liberals" on DU would be more than happy if they did work that way.

[catrose]

20. Do the mythical many

Cancel out my friends and their relatives who don't match that description, not to mention children and animals?

[Sunlei]

21. 17 inches of rain!, it's scary here in near sw houston with some of the 10++ rains we've had

I've never flooded but carry extra flood insurance. I think the extreme rains will get worse every year.

[kentauros]

23. I agree with that.

The "normal" weather has changed locally. In the past, the standard format was an afternoon shower around 3 pm (in the Clear Lake area; further inland add another 30 minutes.) It was so regular you really could set your watch by it. The thunderheads would build throughout the day until you got that afternoon shower of 5-10 minutes, or just enough to keep the humidity high

Now, we don't get those afternoon storms any more. More humidity is coming off of the Gulf and building into storms much further inland. They then turn into the torrential lines of thunderstorms like yesterday's. Perhaps the amount of humidity hasn't changed, but instead of being spread out on a daily basis, it's all conglomerated together into a storm weeks in the making.

We may indeed live on a flood plane here, but even without human habitation, it was never meant to take rainfall conditions like this.