Flash Flood — Burnet, Texas

2007-06-26 to 2007-06-27 · near Marble Falls, Burnet, Texas

Event narrative

Two lines of thunderstorms, one moving south from the Dallas area and one moving southeast from the Abilene area, intersected and stalled near Marble Falls, producing a sustained heavy rainfall over Burnet County from just before midnight into the early and mid morning hours. General rainfall over the southern half of Burnet County was between 10 and 15 inches with the highest rain totals in the Marble Falls area, where up to 19 inches fell. The hardest hit area was Marble Falls, where more than 315 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. The worst of the damage occurred along Whitman Branch Creek. This included businesses and even a day care facility. Personnel from Texas Military Forces were mobilized and sent into Marble Falls to help with rescues and evacuations. The military personnel, along with swift water rescue and other first responders, completed 32 high water rescues and evacuated hundreds of residents. Shelters were set up at the Marble Falls Middle School. At least eight bridges in Burnet County were destroyed with some amount of damage to nearly every road and structure in the southern half of the county. Most roads remained closed all day, but a few were re-opened in the late afternoon. Cars and vans were strewn all up and down US281 in the Marble Falls area. Nearly all parks and lakes were closed. Businesses in Marble Falls were also closed. Drinking water in Marble Falls was contaminated by the flood and over 1000 residents were without water for at least a week. Total estimates of the damages were placed at $130,000,000. One swift water rescue team member was forced to save himself when his vehicle was washed off SH71 near Double Horn Creek. He was able to get to dry land after a prolonged struggle. A couple in Marble Falls awoke to find their home flooded and with the water rising rapidly. They scrambled to the highest point in the one-story house as the water continued to rise. Finally, they had to use a shotgun to blast holes in the ceiling so they could break through to climb up on the roof. They waited with their two dogs on the roof in the dark for 2 hours, then were able to climb down and take shelter in a barn as the water receded slightly. They waited for an additional 12 hours until they were finally rescued by boat. Two young men were attempting to drive from a home in Marble Falls to Leander via FM 1431 sometime in the early morning hours of June 27 when their jeep was swept into high water east of Marble Falls. The vehicle was located a few days later in a creek about 10 miles east of Marble Falls. The body of one of the young men was recovered several days later but the remains of the other young man have not been found.

Wider weather episode

A thunderstorm outflow boundary from storms in the Dallas area moved southward into South Central Texas as a second outflow boundary from thunderstorms in the Abilene area moved southeastward. The two boundaries collided near Marble Falls shortly after midnight on June 26 and produced sustained periods of very heavy rainfall across several counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.5700, -98.2700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 42894. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.