Austin Texas News

Last week was rough for Central Texas.   Flooding took a major toll on the hill country and water from the Highland Lakes was moved through the Austin area by way of opened floodgates. The State of Texas issued a Disaster Declaration for counties in the area and Travis County declared a local state of disaster. This week, because of the severely compromised turbidity, or clarity, of the Colorado River — Austin’s sole source of…

Recent rains and floods have taken a toll on trees in Central Texas. Arborist Mark Mann with Davey Tree has more.

The City of Austin has announced that several distribution sites have been opened for residents to get bottled water if they are special needs, unable to boil water or need bottled water for work. The sites are open as Austin Water customers continue to be under a boil water notice after silt, mud and debris from flooding flowed into the utility’s water source.  Supplies are limited to one gallon of water per person and up…

AUSTIN, Texas – After record flooding, what used to be a paved street in the Pecan Valley neighborhood of Marble Falls, has turned into a muddy road. “This beautiful place right here was our home, still is our home I hope,” said Larry Jones. Jones has owned his house for 20 years. His son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren live just across the street. He recalls hearing a knock on the door from an officer, telling him…

The LCRA says that the Highland Lakes watershed continues to experience historic flooding and that flood operations continue at most of its dams. But some good news as all floodgates at two dams are now closed. Officials announced that all floodgates at Buchanan and Wirtz Dams are now closed. Flood operations continue at Inks, Starcke, Mansfield and Tom Miller Dams. Officials say the four open floodgates at Mansfield Dam are expected to remain open until the end…

AUSTIN, Texas – Recent flooding is blamed for compromising water treatment facilities with Austin water. The city is working Monday to stabilize the water treatment system. The water boil and restrictions impacting local schools.  “Our staff we’ve been scrambling to try and find water,” said Halley Cade the communications coordinator for Wayside schools. Monday’s boil water notice and new restrictions ended up putting the school week on hold for all five Wayside Schools, as they…

AUSTIN, Texas – “Yesterday we asked our customers to reduce your use and today we are now asking you to not drink from the sink,” said Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk at a 6 a.m. emergency press conference Monday morning.  Cronk told the press due to the represented amount of flooding affecting lakes and rivers, Austin Water is struggling to keep up with the impacts. “We have 3 major drinking water plants and all of…

Governor Greg Abbott has added 36 counties to his state disaster declaration in response to widespread flooding in Texas. That’s in addition to the 18 counties already included earlier this week. “There’s already been hundreds of thousands of Texans already seriously impacted by the rains and flooding here in Central Texas,” said Abbott.   The governor worries there could be more, depending on weather events this weekend.  “We anticipate river flooding to the moderate and…

Zack Shields has your weather forecast. A Flash Flood Watch is in effect until 7 p.m. (CT) (10/19) for most of Central Texas. TODAY – Showers and slight chance of thunderstorms. Locallyheavy rainfall possible. Highs in the lower 60s. North winds 5 to10 mph. Chance of rain 90 percent.TONIGHT – Showers. Near steady temperature around 60. Northwinds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90 percent. SATURDAY – Cloudy with showers likely. Highs in the…

Even the statue of music legend, Stevie Ray Vaugn is prepared for flooding. On Thursday someone dressed him up with a life vest jacket in past flooding events Stevie has been underwater. The Lower Colorado River Authority announced Wednesday they preparing to open up additional flood gates at Mansfield Dam over the next few days. Water will be rushing downstream to Lake Austin and Lady Bird Lake. The lakes high water levels have caused concern…

Tuesday, hundreds of people evacuated when waterways in Burnet and Llano counties climbed to almost 40 feet, flooding homes in Kingsland and Marble Falls.  “It was so dark, we couldn’t tell where the water was, but we were standing here with our coffee and a canoe floated by between the deck and the tree,” said Gloria Mays who lives along Lake Marble Falls.  “So we just packed up a couple of outfits for each of…

For the past few days, much of what’s happened in all the lakes in Austin, has made its way down south to Bastrop. At Neighbor’s Kitchen and Yard, the lake levels have been rising significantly. Tom Dickey is the owner there and says most of this customers say what they’ve seen is out of the ordinary. From the back porch the observation deck and much of the light pole is completely underwater right now. “It’s…

Firefighters were able to find and rescue flags from the rising flood waters on Lake Travis.  The Lake Travis Fire Department had crews out on the lake Thursday to conduct a hazard assessment when the firefighters came across two flags stranded at the top of a flagpole.  Both a United States flag and a Texas flag were rescued, folded and safely transported to shore. A video of the flags being carefully handled by a firefighter…

During a media briefing Wednesday, state and local authorities said they will be asking for federal help to rebuild the Kingsland community.  One of the biggest priorities is the Ranch Road 2900 bridge that was wiped out when the Llano River rose to almost 40 feet.  County authorities said losing the bridge means first responders will have to remap routes to the Marble Falls hospital and it may take them 5 to 10 minutes longer…

Heavy rainfall under the cover of darkness resulted in an image many Llano residents had never seen before and will likely never forget. The Llano River crested at just below 40 feet on Tuesday shutting down the bridge for most of the day.  By Wednesday morning the river was back down to about 12 and a half feet. The feared second crest overnight never happened. “We were informed yesterday evening that indeed there would not…