Texas flash flood recovery effort turns its focus to lakes
Authorities in Kerr County say they have plans to drain at least one flood-swollen lake, as they continue to search for the roughly 100 people still thought to be missing after the catastrophic flash flooding of July 4.
The dammed reservoirs along the Guadalupe River near Kerrville are believed to have captured debris washed downstream. One local resident, Ann Carr, told county commissioners on Monday about what she and her sister saw happening on Ingram Lake, just upstream from Kerrville, on the night of the flood.
“We went out and started seeing the lake rise, and as we did we saw all kinds of things float past. Propane tanks, kitchen appliances — you name it!” she told commissioners.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said in a Monday morning meeting of the county commissioners that authorities were aware of the potentially hazardous debris in the lakes. There’s also a possibility some of the missing may be buried in debris in the riverbeds or in the lakes.
“We don’t know how many we’ve lost,” Kelly said. “We’ve heard accounts of trailer after trailer after trailer being swept into the river with families in them. Can’t find the trailers.”
Kelly said the search now includes dive teams and sonar. They’ve found indications that the flood waters may have buried large objects. He cited the example of a trailer found stuck in gravel under 27 feet of water.
Commissioners said they have a plan to drain at least one of the lakes on the Guadalupe, but they’re not ready to share details. The effort may prove to be expensive and complex, in part because of the presence of endangered species in that part of the river.
At a makeshift memorial erected near the dam that formed Nimitz Lake, Kerrville’s main reservoir for drinking water, local resident Dwight McDonald says he sees no alternative to draining it.
“We’re going to have to,” he says. “It’s a huge task, but nobody’s going to stop until we get the last one,” he says, referring to the missing people. “Texas is different — this is family down here.”
Transcript:
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
In the flash flood zone of the Texas Hill Country, search-rescue efforts are transitioning now to recovery. More than 130 deaths have been confirmed so far as a result of the Fourth of July flooding. Around 100 people are still thought to be missing. As NPR’s Martin Kaste reports from the town of Kerrville, now the attention is turning toward a more difficult, long-term search.
(SOUNDBITE OF HELICOPTER ROTOR WHIRRING)
MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE: It’s been 11 days since the chaos of the flash floods, and volunteers are helping to pick up the debris along the Guadalupe in Kerrville. Cindy Martinez came up from San Antonio.
CINDY MARTINEZ: I just wanted to help. And it’s my birthday, and I couldn’t think of – I’m so thankful that I’m not going through something like this, and the only thing I could think of doing. I feel so helpless.
KASTE: She says doing physical work, dragging tree branches up the muddy hill, makes it easier for her not to think about the lives lost here.
MARTINEZ: Although, I’ll be honest with you, when I see things like a lure – a fishing lure – and I’m, like, reminded, like, somebody just came out here to fish that day.
KASTE: What have you found today?
MARTINEZ: A doll. Some pajamas. People’s lives.
KASTE: Texans have been following two numbers since the flood – the confirmed deaths and the missing. The number of missing has been adjusted from 160 down to about 100. But still, that’s a hundred question marks.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROB KELLY: It’s what we don’t know. We don’t know how many of them there are.
KASTE: That’s Kerr County judge Rob Kelly during a Monday morning session with county commissioners. He says the number of missing is made more uncertain by the fact that it was the Fourth of July.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KELLY: It’s the tourists that came in for the Fourth weekend – the concert, the fireworks. We don’t know how many came. We don’t know where they are. We don’t know how many we’ve lost. We’ve heard accounts of trailer after trailer after trailer being swept into the river with families in them. Can’t find the trailers.
KASTE: Kelly says sonar equipment has been brought in, and divers have started the underwater search. What they’ve found so far suggests the flood was so violent it buried large objects. For example, a trailer was spotted stuck in the gravel under 27 feet of water. And of particular concern are the artificial lakes – the reservoirs in the river behind dams. One resident, Ann Carr, told commissioners what her family saw flowing into Ingram Lake near Kerrville.
ANN CARR: We went out and we started seeing the lake rise. And as we did, we saw all kinds of things float by us – propane tanks, kitchen appliances, you name it.
KASTE: Commissioners responded that there is a plan to drain at least one of the lakes, but they won’t share the details yet. Draining such lakes is an expensive and potentially contentious process, especially in this case, commissioners say, because of the presence of endangered species.
(SOUNDBITE OF WATER ROARING)
KASTE: Nimitz Lake, about a mile-and-a-half long, is the main drinking water reservoir for Kerrville. The view over the dam has been overtaken by crosses, ribbons and other memorials, where locals come to pay their respects. One of them is a Vietnam vet named Dwight McDonald, pausing on the ridge overlooking the crosses. He says he doesn’t see any alternative to draining the lake.
DWIGHT MCDONALD: They’re going to have to – and probably the one up there, too – to get some kind of idea. I mean, it’s a huge task, but, you know, nobody’s going to stop till we get the last one. Texas is different. This is family down here.
KASTE: The atmosphere on this part of the river is subdued. None of the visitors raise their voices against the sound of the water rushing over the dam, maybe because of the growing realization of what that lake may now contain.
Martin Kaste, NPR News, Kerrville, Texas.
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