Flooding NM and Texas

[Firebird]

I know we have a bunch of members from Texas and I’ve done some buy and sell with NM members. I hope you are all faring well as the rains come down and the floods come up- seems like Kerr county was the worst hit that I saw on the news-

 

[deewayne2003]

I lived in Austin for a decade and the central Texas area is prone to flash floods; back in 2015 the Blanco river rose 45' in one hour and it was devastating.

This video is 10 years old

As for recent events..... AFD is holding a no confidence vote on the fire chief that refused to deploy the swift water crews to surrounding areas despite multiple requests for assistance.

 

[mdwest]

FWIW, much like the hurricane relief effort for North Carolina last year, my firm is partnering with Samaritans Purse on flood relief. We’ve sent in a donation and are about to put up a web link for others to join in and make donations if anyone is interested.

I was originally planning on throwing the chainsaws, portable generators, and a wheelbarrow in the truck and just driving south until I found a family in need of assistance in clearing their property, home, roadway, etc.. but I’ve had another priority come up and have to spend my weekend elsewhere… assuming there are still people needing help the following weekend, I’ll likely head south and provide as much free labor as I can then…

 

[Pablo]

There are a helluva lot of volunteers in the Kerrville area now with skid steers, excavators and chainsaws. But they will be months recovering/cleaning up. The pics I have seen from people who are onsite are horrendous.

 

[Philip Glass]

I had the worst flooding of my life as far as damage here at the ranch. Fences down, dam washed out, and roads are severely damaged.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

With the history of flash floods in that country I just don't understand why no sirens. A lot of finger pointing going on already. Appears cheapskate county administrators was basically the problem. And they wonder why liability insurance for municipalities is sky high. People in charge make stupid careless decisions because they know their elected positions protects them from liability.

 

[AZDAVE]

Very seldom do I get annoyed or pissed off but @Ontario Hunter you just managed to push all the right buttons.

Unless you are from the hill country or spent a lot of time there making statements without understanding the situation you are as bad a the left wing press. When you have a once in a thousand year flood no one living there has experienced that. The camps were above the know in the last hundred years flood levels. This area is also Tornado area big time and they are a million times more likely to have a tornado than a flash flood. It sirens had gone off in a extreme thunder storms everyone would have assumed it was a tornado in the dark vs a flood in the dark. and the appropriate reaction to each is the exact opposite of each other. right now they are trying to rescue or recover the missing folks. Time for in depth after action reports and solving problems will come in a few months once they take care of the current problem set. Unless you have been in Texas and seen how or been part of Texan's coming together to take care of their own you have no idea what you are talking about. Have family just south east of Keerville and a brother in law working a volunteer fire dept and he has been very complimentary of all the folks in place helping and support they have received from the State and Federal level.

It is easy to sit and be the arm chair quarterback but if you can't be positive in support and be part of the solution just sit down and shut up. A few prayers for those lost and the family who lost family would be a better use of your time.

I apologize for be less than gentlemanly in my response to everyone on AH.

 

[Pablo]

Very seldom do I get annoyed or pissed off but @Ontario Hunter you just managed to push all the right buttons.

Unless you are from the hill country or spent a lot of time there making statements without understanding the situation you are as bad a the left wing press. When you have a once in a thousand year flood no one living there has experienced that. The camps were above the know in the last hundred years flood levels. This area is also Tornado area big time and they are a million times more likely to have a tornado than a flash flood. It sirens had gone off in a extreme thunder storms everyone would have assumed it was a tornado in the dark vs a flood in the dark. and the appropriate reaction to each is the exact opposite of each other. right now they are trying to rescue or recover the missing folks. Time for in depth after action reports and solving problems will come in a few months once they take care of the current problem set. Unless you have been in Texas and seen how or been part of Texan's coming together to take care of their own you have no idea what you are talking about. Have family just south east of Keerville and a brother in law working a volunteer fire dept and he has been very complimentary of all the folks in place helping and support they have received from the State and Federal level.

It is easy to sit and be the arm chair quarterback but if you can't be positive in support and be part of the solution just sit down and shut up. A few prayers for those lost and the family who lost family would be a better use of your time.

I apologize for be less than gentlemanly in my response to everyone on AH.

Thank you, you took the words out of my mouth. @Ontario Hunter, that was an asinine comment.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Just watching the news, boys. There's been a saga running several years on installing flash flood warning system and why it didn't happen. Seems it was all about who was going to pay what portion of the bill. No one was arguing a warning system for flash floods wasn't needed.

Easy enough to install siren systems with different tones or patterns for different disaster warning.

 

[AZDAVE]

Well watching the news...

The media (AKA News) are the only people on the planet with bigger agendas and lie more than corrupt politician.

We are back to you aren't there so just be quite and let the professionals figure out how best to go forward.

Your comments are neither needed or wanted!

 

[Twraska]

With the history of flash floods in that country I just don't understand why no sirens. A lot of finger pointing going on already. Appears cheapskate county administrators was basically the problem. And they wonder why liability insurance for municipalities is sky high. People in charge make stupid careless decisions because they know their elected positions protects them from liability.

The hill country has, in the past 50 years, gone from a very rural, sparsely populated farming and ranching area to a tourist haven with lots of city folks buying up the properties. Many structures are being built in beautiful river bottoms along the rivers. They often ignore the obvious, that the river occasionally floods. Not meaning to take away from the tremendous loss of life and property, but the fact is the rivers there are subject to flash floods every couple of decades.

With that said, I don’t know what the answer is. I personally turn off alerts on my phone because I get tired of getting woke up cause some toddler wandered into the woods 200 miles from me. I mean, that child isn’t going to walk 200 miles into my back yard, why wake me?

What I see when we vacation in the hill country, is the lack of knowledge (awareness) of the campers to what the dangers are. Most don’t understand when it rains hard, you need to watch the water and turn on some form of news. (There is radio stations, internet and phone service in most areas.). Or if you see lightning for an extended period of time upstream, stay on your toes. I’d bet 75% don’t have a clue where the watershed is for the river.

 

[pilar]

I had the worst flooding of my life as far as damage here at the ranch. Fences down, dam washed out, and roads are severely damaged.

View attachment 698613

I’ll bet it was flooding to beat the dog , water valley, grape town, San Angelo / entire Concho river valley got hammered, kerrville is the diamond in the goats ass and getting most of the news coverage, but llano Leander, north Austin
3 different areas of Texas had 30ft walls of water going down the rivers

 

[BJH65]

With that said, I don’t know what the answer is. I personally turn off alerts on my phone because I get tired of getting woke up cause some toddler wandered into the woods 200 miles from me. I mean, that child isn’t going to walk 200 miles into my back yard, why wake me?

Personally, I have no problems with Amber Alerts, which is only used for child abductions and it’s believed the child is in imminent danger. I take a screenshot to save the information. The activation zone can vary from half a mile to statewide if necessary. I’m not upset if I get awakened because it could be nearby or very relevant and my beauty sleep isn’t that important.

There is no Amber type alert for natural disasters that I’m aware of, only child abductions. An Amber type alert for natural and/or man made disasters has merit IMO. Like the horrible flooding that occurred in Texas, especially the Hill Country, an Amber type alert going to cell phones with the message, “dangerous flooding, get to high ground immediately,”

No blame game and I’m still praying for all those affected, it’s just heartbreaking.

 

[pilar]

With that said, I don’t know what the answer is. I personally turn off alerts on my phone because I get tired of getting woke up cause some toddler wandered into the woods 200 miles from me. I mean, that child isn’t going to walk 200 miles into my back yard, why wake me?

Yeah I have my alert settings off myself, lots of chicken little alerts, 50-200 miles from me , amber alerts, grey alerts, flood warnings, . Then at the ranch we have zero cellular service, so the house phone rings and it’s something 50-60 miles away about a high speed chase of a truck load of illegal drugs, I wish they had the technology to narrow it down to a local area.
This kerrville thing is terrible, the Kerr County sheriff should be hung up by his balls and then fired, for not setting off the emergency alert when the fire department called for it at 1:30am and the 35 foot wall of water hit at 4:30 killing hundreds
The search is next to impossible, walking miles poking a stick in to the debris and mud
Then followed up with cadaver dogs , over and over per zone
Now it’s raining again today 7-13

 

[wesheltonj]

One of the problems is a change in the weather pattern has caused most to be complacent about flooding. When I was a kid, the Guadalupe had flooded almost every other year. When I hit college, the flooding every other year stopped. Three big floods (not including this one in the past 40 years).

 

[BJH65]

With that said, I don’t know what the answer is. I personally turn off alerts on my phone because I get tired of getting woke up cause some toddler wandered into the woods 200 miles from me. I mean, that child isn’t going to walk 200 miles into my back yard, why wake me?

Yeah I have my alert settings off myself, lots of chicken little alerts, 50-200 miles from me , amber alerts, grey alerts, flood warnings, . Then at the ranch we have zero cellular service, so the house phone rings and it’s something 50-60 miles away about a high speed chase of a truck load of illegal drugs, I wish they had the technology to narrow it down to a local area.
This kerrville thing is terrible, the Kerr County sheriff should be hung up by his balls and then fired, for not setting off the emergency alert when the fire department called for it at 1:30am and the 35 foot wall of water hit at 4:30 killing hundreds
The search is next to impossible, walking miles poking a stick in to the debris and mud
Then followed up with cadaver dogs , over and over per zone
Now it’s raining again today 7-13
View attachment 699286

Godspeed with your efforts and you have my thanks and appreciation. AZDAVE is right, there will be plenty of time for after action reports and lessons learned later.

 

[Philip Glass]

Just watching the news, boys. There's been a saga running several years on installing flash flood warning system and why it didn't happen. Seems it was all about who was going to pay what portion of the bill. No one was arguing a warning system for flash floods wasn't needed.

Easy enough to install siren systems with different tones or patterns for different disaster warning.

You have explained your problem. You watch the news but have no idea where the Guadalupe river is or what that terrain looks like. If you did you would know that sirens would not be a practical choice. Some of that area lacks cell coverage.
Like the media idiots it’s easy to try to place blame from afar.
THE RIVER ROSE 26’ in 45 MINUTES!

 

[pilar]

One of the problems is a change in the weather pattern has caused most to be complacent about flooding. When I was a kid, the Guadalupe had flooded almost every other year. When I hit college, the flooding every other year stopped. Three big floods (not including this one in the past 40 years).

Yeah I have live through 3 1000 year floods 1978 , 1987, 2025
WTH is a thousand year flood anyway? It was once welcomed for it to flood a little to flush out the creeks and rivers, now people live on the flood plain .
After 1987 I would have thought that flood zone would have been a no build zone

 

[pilar]

Just watching the news, boys. There's been a saga running several years on installing flash flood warning system and why it didn't happen. Seems it was all about who was going to pay what portion of the bill. No one was arguing a warning system for flash floods wasn't needed.

Easy enough to install siren systems with different tones or patterns for different disaster warning.

That area is spread across 100 square miles, impossible to install sirens except in hunt and kerrville, every thing up north and south fork is just SOL on warnings

 

[wesheltonj]

“Yeah I have live through 3 1000 year floods 1978 , 1987, 2025”

I remember each of those, most folks get off the river when it rain no matter how much or little it rains. But common sense is lost on most folks.