Flash Flood in Bexar County, Texas

A contract worker at Camp Bullis drowned when their vehicle was swept off the road at a low water crossing.

A warm front combined with an upper level trough and deep moisture produced heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms across much of South Central Texas on October 30th and 31st. Damage surveys confirmed four tornadoes. Along with the severe weather, excessive rainfall resulted in widespread flash flooding along the Interstate 35 corridor Friday morning. Rainfall rates on the order of 5-7 inches per hour fell from San Marcos up through South Austin. Historic rainfall totals fell at the Austin Airport where over 1 foot of rain fell within a few hours time. 12.49 inches of rain for Oct 30 was the most ever in one day for Austin. Other daily rainfall totals exceeded 15 inches. Record flooding occurred in southern Travis County and portions of Hays County. River and creek flooding was extensive across Hays, Travis, Bastrop, Caldwell, and Comal Counties. Many areas, especially in San Marcos, compared this flooding to the record flooding of Oct 1998. Estimates of 2000 homes were flooded in or near this I-35 corridor, many of them destroyed or sustained Major damage. Estimates of insured losses were not available as of this writing, but the counties experienced monetary losses in the tens of millions.