E.B. Writers of Dallas

Town Assesses Damage as Waters Engulf Texas
Washington Post, July 8, 2002

By Wayne Epperson
Special to The Washington Post

FALLS CITY, Tex., July 8 -- Mayor Vi Malone signed a declaration today describing her town of 591 people in south-central Texas as a disaster area. It was the second time in four years she has done so.
"That's two too many times," she said. "I hope I never have to do that again in my lifetime. "
The mayor had been in office for only a year when the devastating flood of 1998 hit this Karnes County town, about 35 miles southeast of San Antonio. But mayoral experience has proved no match for the rains that have overwhelmed the Hill Country of Texas for the past week and are washing slowly toward the Gulf of Mexico.
"This flood is worse than the '98 flooding in many ways. We have had 33 homes damaged this year, compared to 25 in '98. We have had four businesses affected and none before," Malone said.
The San Antonio River, which bisects Falls City, crested at 35 feet, well above flood stage, on Thursday, and residents whose homes lay in the flood plain began evacuating or moving their possessions and livestock to higher ground. This is farm and ranching land.
The flooding that hit central and south-central Texas after several days of downpours last week was blamed for an additional death today, bringing the total to nine.
"Fortunately, we haven't had any casualties, because any time there's a big rain in San Antonio to the north, we have a 48-hour warning to get out of town, " Malone said.
The mayor predicted it would take at least four days for the waters to subside and perhaps two months more to remove all the mud from the homes.
With State Highway 181 closed to traffic, residents must travel a circuitous route to get from one end of town to another. "What normally would be a 15-minute trip takes 45 minutes," the mayor said.
The San Antonio River is normally 60 or 70 feet wide where it passes under Highway 181. Now, within a quarter-mile downstream, it spreads about a mile wide in the flood plain.
Carolyn Bollman, who has lived in Falls City for 22 years, said, "We began moving our horses out of the barn last Thursday, when the Medina Lake Dam began overflowing.
"There is three inches of standing water in our home today, but that is nothing compared to the damage that some people on the other side of the river suffered. Some homes had water up to the roofs."
Any time it floods, residents of Falls City and the surrounding area are asked to evacuate voluntarily. Bollman said many refuse to leave, instead choosing to stay with family and friends in the area.
Joe Garcia, 26, of Falls City, stood in the middle of a closed roadway that led to a flooded bridge spanning the San Antonio River and pointed to a home 30 yards away from the river bank. His grandmother, Frances Garcia, had to leave after the river waters flooded her home for the second time in four years.
"I've lived here all my life, and this is the worst that I've seen, including the flooding of 1998," Garcia said.
Surveying the floodwaters with him was Kevin Peters, a 13-year resident of Falls City. "This has just been a freaky thing," Peters said. "We have just had a 100-year flood every four years."
Posted on the glass door of the town hall was a sign: "Cleaning supplies will be distributed to those in need at the Falls City Fire Department beginning next Tuesday.”
The skies over the area were clear today, and weather forecasts were calling for only occasional scattered showers.
The day began with 13 counties on the list of federal disaster areas. Eleven Texas counties were added during the day, bringing the total to 24 as a result of the flooding. The total includes several counties in the Abilene area of West Texas hit by flash floods Saturday.
Gov. Rick Perry said the counties affected by the floodwaters amounted to more than 33,000 square miles --a larger area than Rhode Island, Delaware, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire combined.
Perry, who flew over the area Sunday, said the area affected was larger than the 1998 flood.
In San Antonio, federal and state disaster relief administrators had set up a field office that was expected to be in operation for several months.
Unofficial damage estimates have been in the tens of billions of dollars, with as many as 50,000 homes affected.
"We really cannot say how much damage has been done as a result of this flooding. This is a pretty big one," said David Passey, regional public affairs officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
He also said this one has lasted longer than the 1998 flood.
As of this morning, 2,926 people in central Texas had registered with FEMA, requesting disaster assistance. More than 700 people applied on Sunday, and an equal number was expected to have been processed today. Passey said he expected the requests to continue in central Texas.
But in Falls City, no relief agencies were operating today.
"People here are proud people. They don't turn to the federal government for help," Malone said. "In 1998, there was one person who got aid from FEMA. But there is always one."
The town's residents pull together in troubled times. Last week, after cattle ranchers had taken livestock to high ground, they returned to town to help the merchants. "They pulled their cattle trailers up and started loading things to help these people get out. You just can't beat the people in Falls City ," the mayor said.