Flash Flood — Llano, Texas

2018-10-16 · near Llano, Llano, Texas

Event narrative

Heavy rain caused an extensive rise in area creeks and rivers, pushing the Llano River to near 40 feet at the USGS river gauge in Llano. This is the 2nd highest ever recorded height on the river in the city of Llano. Flow peaked out about 285,000 CFS around 730 AM that morning nearly coming up to the level of the Highway 16 (Ford St.) bridge in town. Several homes were flooded along the river with damage to the area parks as well. A 58 year old woman lost her life in her vehicle as she was trying to get to work in town near West Sandstone and Flag Street. Time when she entered the water is unknown but is estimated around 5 AM that morning. Phone and internet service went down as the high water flow washed away phone lines underneath the Llano River Bridge. Damage in the city of Llano will likely surpass 1 million dollars.

Wider weather episode

A cold front moved into a very moist atmosphere and generated showers and thunderstorms some of which produced heavy rain that led to flash flooding. Rainfall totals during this episode included 8.40 inches at Mountain Home in Kerr County, 6.26 inches at Llano, and 9.27 inches at Castell in Llano County. This widespread rainfall created a massive flood along the Llano River and its nearby creeks. The flood waters went into the Colorado River and produced lake flooding on Lake LBJ, Lake Marble Falls, and Lake Travis where hundreds of homes were flooded.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.7607, -98.7407)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 790530. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.