More rains bring risk of flooding

With soils already saturated and creeks and rivers already running high, Hays County officials are keeping an eye on the rainy forecast for the rest of this week.

“With the upcoming forecasted weather, we are even more concerned given how saturated everything is already,” Hays County emergency operations chief Kharley Smith said. “It will take very little rain for low water crossings to be impacted.”

Eric Platt, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office, said that forecasters are expecting a 50 percent chance of rain Wednesday and about a 60 percent chance Thursday, and though it is hard to predict the weather beyond that, there is a chance for heavy rainfall later in the week.

“We do have some concerns for some severe weather,” Platt said. “A lot of this we’re just going to have to evaluate day by day.”

Platt said that cold fronts and upper level systems tend to interact in the spring, leading to more storms and rain.

“Things typically start to get a little active in April and May,” he said.

With the addition of moisture coming in from the Gulf the atmosphere contains all the ingredients for a lot of rainfall, Platt said. 

He also noted that the rainfall this week, after rains last week that led to flooding throughout Central Texas, could contribute to flash flooding.

“Whenever we start off wet with our soils and we get heavy rain on top of that, that’s typically what leads to a flash flood situation,” he said

Smith said the county is staying in communication with weather authorities to receive the most up-to-date forecasts and remaining in a state of readiness in case an emergency occurs.

“Even more so now than ever, we are asking residents to use the resources available to them to stay connected and make smart decisions on travel and routes,” Smith said. “Haysinformed.com has up-to-date weather information, road closures and emergency messages.”

The rains last Friday led to rainfall totals across the county ranging from 7.1 inches in Dripping Springs to 1.59 inches in San Marcos. Officials reported two flood-related deaths in the Hill Country – one in Blanco County and one in Dripping Springs. Additionally, a car accident that took place during Friday’s heavy rains on Interstate 35 in San Marcos led to one fatailty. Pedro Roman-Abarca, 58, of New Braunfels, died from injuries he sustained in the wreck.