Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

TexasTowelie

(111,301 posts)
Tue May 26, 2015, 05:28 AM May 2015

Austin breaks 120-year-old record for rainfall in May: 16.72 inches at Camp Mabry

After storms wreaked havoc through Central Texas Sunday, the area was hit again Monday afternoon, flooding roadways and causing power outages in Austin and surrounding areas. After reported tornado touchdowns mid-afternoon in several Central Texas counties, storms deluged the already-saturated Austin area with rain, causing flooding all over the city.

9:45 p.m. The City of Austin's Emergency Operations Center says it has no word of any fatalities or missing people in the city due to flooding at this point. Crews are staging equipment to clean up major arteries like Lamar Boulevard, once Shoal Creek recedes completely. Engineers will assess the roadway and bridges, and any needed repairs will be made as soon as possible.

Austin Energy has about 400 customers still without power.

NWS San Antonio

@NWSSanAntonio

9:15pm - It is officially the Wettest May at Austin Mabry in History. Old May record of 14.10" in 1895, After today's rain 2015 is at 16.72"
9:17 PM - 25 May 2015


Read more: http://kut.org/post/storms-cause-widespread-flooding-austin-updated

[font color=330099]Rain remains in the forecast for every day this week.[/font]
2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Austin breaks 120-year-old record for rainfall in May: 16.72 inches at Camp Mabry (Original Post) TexasTowelie May 2015 OP
Yeah, it really rained hard here for several hours yesterday. ananda May 2015 #1
Just read an excellent blog-post at Weather Underground. kentauros May 2015 #2

ananda

(28,783 posts)
1. Yeah, it really rained hard here for several hours yesterday.
Tue May 26, 2015, 11:11 AM
May 2015

There was considerable flooding in spots across the city.

Later on that night, I think Houston got it even worse.

I am so glad I'm not in Houston any more. This is exactly
why I left, because of the potential for flooding.

kentauros

(29,414 posts)
2. Just read an excellent blog-post at Weather Underground.
Tue May 26, 2015, 11:24 PM
May 2015

Here's the link and beginning, plus an eerie photo linked further on


[font size="5"][font color="green"]Epic Rains, Disastrous Floods Plague Texas, Oklahoma[/font][/font]
By: Bob Henson, 2:24 PM GMT on May 26, 2015

Water cascaded through the streets, creeks, and bayous of downtown Austin and Houston on Monday as an upper-level storm inched its way across the southern Great Plains. Slow-moving thunderstorms dumped 6” to 8” across the western Houston metro area between 8:00 and 11:00 p.m., and heavy rains continued well past midnight across much of the south and west metro area, bringing some totals as high as 10+”. Though the Houston flooding came well short of that in 2001’s catastrophic Tropical Storm Allison, countless roads and interstate highways were submerged, and hundreds of homes reportedly took water. This was the latest salvo in a remarkable three-day stretch of torrential rain and destructive flooding across much of Oklahoma and Texas and parts of neighboring states. As of Tuesday morning, the floods had taken at least 8 lives, with at least 12 people missing, and damaged or destroyed many hundreds of buildings.

Some of the worst damage occurred in and near the much-touristed town of Wimberley, located along the Blanco River in the Texas Hill Country west of Austin. After a mesoscale convective system (MCS) dropped upward of 7” upstream of Wimberley on Saturday afternoon, the river surged to a new record high in spectacular fashion later that night (see Figure 2 below). The Hill Country has a tragic history of flash flooding, and prompt evacuations no doubt saved many lives. This weekend also saw several “flash flood emergency” declarations by the National Weather Service. This wording is reserved for the highest-end events, much like the “tornado emergency” tag issued when substantial numbers of people are in particular danger. From Saturday through Monday, flash flood emergencies were declared in parts of the Tulsa, Austin, and Houston areas, as well as five counties in west-central Oklahoma. It was the first time that Tulsa and Houston had ever been placed under such alerts.

(more at link)

Latest Discussions»Region Forums»Texas»Austin breaks 120-year-ol...