Storms flood creeks, knock out power
Rollingwood police Sgt. Kristal Pompa (left to right), Cpl. Stephen Pompa and a state transportation department worker watch Eanes Creek flow over Bee Cave Road on Tuesday. The road was closed at the creek during the morning rush hour. Heavy rains flooded creeks but left lake levels virtually unchanged.
Storms and heavy rain that pushed through Central Texas late Monday night early Tuesday were strong enough to leave thousands without power and cause several home fires but had little effect on lake levels.
The rainfall brought at least 2.2 inches of rain to the entire Austin area, including about 4 inches near Austin-Bergstrom International airport, according to the Lower Colorado River Authority.
Its effect on Central Texas lakes was minimal, however, with levels rising negligibly if at all. While rains in the Highland Lakes area added nearly a billion gallons of water to Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan, the lakes lose nearly five times that a week due to water use and evaporation, officials said.
Officials say the rains may cause lake levels to rise only a few inches in the next few days. Any significant change would require multiple storms over the lakes and tributaries.
“We wish it would rain in the right places, and we’re just hoping that that will be the case,” said Kate Hourin, a spokeswoman for the LCRA.
The cold front that brought the rain to the area will cause cooler conditions Wednesday. Meteorologists have forecast a high of 71 degrees in Austin. The low is 50. No rain is in the forecast after sunrise, the National Weather Service said.
On Monday night, most of the Austin area was under a flash flood warning, but lightning was the main problem.
An apartment building and two homes were among the places damaged after lightning strikes — four in Austin and two in Travis County, a Fire Department spokesman said. Fire- fighters and paramedics responded to 49 fire alarms, five flood assists and six wire-arcing calls from 7 p.m. Monday to 7 a.m. Tuesday.
About 6,300 customers across Travis County lost power Monday night when the heavy thunderstorms moved through the area. An Austin Energy spokesman said the outages were caused by lightning strikes.
Some low-water crossings and roads were briefly closed in the Austin area, but no major road closures were reported.