Dozens of high-water rescues and evacuations have the mayor of Kerrville counting his blessings. Mayor Joe Herring said during a press conference that Thursday's flooding was a regional event and that timely, accurate warnings saved lives.
“We were blessed in Kerr County with warnings, and I'm thankful that those warnings saved lives,” said Herring. “Having to be in front of you again so soon after last year's (July 4) flood is hard, but I'm thankful for the team of the City of Kerrville, who is working hard to protect the citizens of Kerrville.”
More than 20 inches of rain fell in the Kerrville area over the past two days, including at least 8 inches that fell within a two-hour period overnight. That flooding caused creeks and rivers to swell.
Town Creek, Quinlan Creek and Dietert Creek, and the Guadalupe River, overflowed and flooded significant portions of Kerr County, according to the city’s police chief.
“We urge everybody in the community, please avoid flooded roadways, turn around, go back, stay away from low water crossings. They're dangerous. We don't want people getting hurt,” said Chief Jerel Haley.
Nearly 50 evacuations of residences and rescues were conducted, Haley said.
“A large number of the people who were (rescued) were people who had driven into high-water areas that they should have never gone into, and so a lot of the evacuations were just us assisting those drivers and passengers to get out of those vehicles and get to safety,” he said.
Kerville Public Works Director David Barrera said a water plant continues to remain offline but that there are no issues with water pressure.
“Our surface water plant is currently offline due to river conditions and loss of power. However, we've transitioned over to our groundwater wells. We don't have any issues right now with the system pressure. We've been able to maintain at least 20 psi (pounds per square inch), and have not had to issue any boil water notice, and don't anticipate that either,” he said.
Heavy rains and flood warnings are expected to continue Thursday night and into Friday.
