A History Lesson on Past Floods in Austin

from the city of Austin

Central Texas is often called "Flash Flood Alley" because of its frequent, intense storms. The "big ones" seem to happen every decade. The major floods of Austin described below have left a lasting impression in people's memories and in the record books.

November 15, 2001

A slow-moving storm system stalled over central Texas, west of Austin, and waves of rain and thunderstorms began to sweep up the I-35 corridor. Widespread rainfall totals typically ranged from five to eight inches, but radar based estimates indicate that some areas may have received 15 inches of rain. Much of this rain fell within the space of six hours.
There was one fatality and widespread flood damage both where the drainage capacity of streets and storm drains was exceeded by rainfall and where creeks overflowed their banks in floodplain areas. In total, 860 buildings were reported to have flood damage. Onion Creek suffered the most significant damage, but home and businesses in the floodplains of Slaughter Creek, South Boggy Creek, Williamson Creek, West Bouldin Creek, East Bouldin Creek, Shoal Creek and Walnut Creek were also hard hit. There was also some flood damage along other streams.

October 17, 1998

Twin hurricanes Madeline and Lester on the west coast of Mexico funneled continuous waves of moisture inland causing flooding in Central and South Texas. Across the state there were 31 deaths, 20 counties declared disaster areas, and 7,000 people evacuated from their homes. Property damages and losses reached almost $1 billion. In Austin, 454 homes were damaged, with most of the damages incurred to houses along along Onion Creek, Walnut Creek, and Williamson Creek.

December 20, 1991

Record peak discharges were recorded at many creek gaging stations across Central Texas. A week of heavy rains contributed to flooding in Lake Travis, Shoal, Williamson, Bull, and Walnut Creeks. An estimated 200 homes in Travis and Bastrop counties were completely under water. Needless to say, this flood ruined the holiday season for many people.

May 24, 1981

This storm event will always be remembered as the "Memorial Day Flood" which drowned 13 people and caused $36 million in damages. This short-duration storm with intense rainfall hit many of Austin's urban creeks: Shoal, Walnut, Little Walnut, Bee, and Waller creeks. Shoal Creek normally flows at 90 gallons per minute, but peaked during this flood at 6 million gallons per minute! Some areas received over 10 inches of rain in four hours.

November 23, 1974

An evening cold front brought thunderstorms in a 40-mile wide line that dropped between four and ten inches of rain in Central Texas. Stalled cars were abandoned all over Austin and "every road in the county has people stranded on the rooftops," said a Travis County sheriff's office spokesman. A man and his 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son were swept into West Bouldin Creek after driving past an off-duty firefighter as he tried to stop traffic from crossing the area. Their car was immediately swept downstream, drowning all three and bringing the death toll up to 13.

October 28, 1960

Similar to the 1974 flood, an evening cold front brought downpours in a 75-mile radius around Austin. An Austin Statesman article described the frightening evening: "Giant, swirling walls of water, spawned by torrential rains of up to nine inches, snuffed out at least two lives, swept away property valued at $2.3 million, and forced 200 people to flee their homes before the flood in a nightmarish night of death and destruction in Austin. Early Saturday, bleary-eyed police reported they had answered an unprecedented 6,000 calls during the night." Several motorists were washed away in their cars, bringing the final death toll to 11. Police claimed the floodwaters from Boggy Creek rose to such a height and to such force that "cars were being pushed around like floating beer cans" on Rosewood Avenue.

April 24, 1957

Texans cheered when rains came in early April to end the seven-year drought. But on April 24, the Austin American Statesman said, "when the black, purple shrouded cloud first appeared in the sky, Central Texans knew something was about to happen. It did. Up to 10 inches of rain fell within a few minutes in a wide sweep of middle Texas." April 24th was labeled "The Day of the Big Cloud," and "the worst day of floods, tornadoes and torrential rain and hail Central Texas has ever seen." As if that wasn't bad enough, the rains kept coming for a total of 32 days, causing flooding all across Austin and Central Texas.

April 7, 1900

The flood waters started from a two-day storm in the High Plains halfway between Lubbock and Amarillo. The stormwater filled the Colorado, the Brazos and the Guadalupe rivers, sending the torrent through unsuspecting cities like Austin and Bastrop. This flood will always be remembered as "The Day the Dam Broke." McDonald Dam on the Colorado River broke up, sending a wall of water down the river which killed dozens of people, even whole families. The river peaked at 60' high and a mile wide. The pride of Austin at the time, "Ben Hur," the 181-foot long, triple-decker leisure steamboat, was also destroyed by the flood.

To read more history of floods in Austin, click here for the city's web site.  This post is courtesy of the city of Austin.