WIMBERLEY, Texas -- Residents and officials faced an unprecedented wall of water during flash floods that crushed homes and swept away families over the weekend in Central Texas.
Rescue crews on Tuesday continued searching the length of the Blanco River for 13 people who remained missing, including a family of eight vacationing in a single home washed away, authorities said. There have been two confirmed deaths.
A record surge 44 feet high sped down the Blanco River late Sunday, demolishing homes and businesses, Hays County Commissioner Will Conley said. The previous record on the river was 32 feet, recorded in 1926.
"It was literally a large wall of water that came down the Blanco River and destroyed everything in its path," he said.
San Marcos city spokeswoman Kristi Wyatt said Tuesday afternoon that 30 people who were listed as missing had been accounted for in Hays County, about 35 miles southwest of Austin.
Emergency officials began sending out alerts to residents warning of the rapidly rising river at 6:30 pm Sunday, as the river rose 12 to 14 feet in 30 minutes, said Kharley Smith, the emergency management coordinator.
As the situation worsen, deputies went door to door to warn residents. The river grew at 223 cubic feet per second -- the fastest rate ever recorded, she said.
At some point in the evening, the river gauge washed away.
Around 70 homes in Hays County were completely destroyed and 1,400 had some type of damage, county spokeswoman Laureen Chernow said. Several hundred have been displaced, she said.
The Wimberly area should get a few days of decent weather. But a low pressure system hovering over Texas could bring more torrential downpours to the area by the end of the week, potentially leading to more floods, Hays County Judge Bert Cobb said.
"This is not over," he said.
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