Austin Flooding: Multiple Rescued From High Waters

AUSTIN, TX — Emergency crews responded to multiple water rescues throughout Austin as powerful storms swept through the city on Thursday evening, prompting weather officials to issue a flash flood warning for parts of Central Texas in effect until early Friday.

Up to three inches fell in some parts of the city in the course of three hours, producing flash flooding conditions. As a result, Austin-Travis County EMS medics wrote on Twitter they rescued several people trapped in high water inside their vehicles, including incidents along the 700 block of North Bluff Drive and the 700 block of Turtle Creek Boulevard at around 7:30 p.m.

At the former site, police later said homeless people living along a creek were rescued from high water. Medics initially said a child was among those rescued at the site, but it ended up being the adult son of a woman who contacted emergency officials, Austin police officer Brian Jones told reporters later during a press conference.

Jones said an emergency worker who arrived to North Bluff Drive went into the water to assist the man out of the creek, and had to be rescued when reaching a point in the waterway of greater depth than had been anticipated. A second rescue official arriving on scene threw a rope out in successfully rescuing both his colleague in distress and the homeless man who then left the scene "...without so much as a thank you," Jones noted.

Despite recent change to the homeless ordinance that had allowed more relaxed rules on where homeless people can locate themselves, bans on encampments along creeks and other bodies of water have remained intact given the potential for such situations as seen overnight. Despite the prohibition, Jones a number of homeless people were camped out with tents at the site before being moved to safer ground.

Medics also were dispatched to intersection of Redd and Gillis streets just before 8 p.m. where they rescued people in two cars submerged in water covering the vehicles' tires, medics wrote on Twitter.

The National Weather Service placed both Travis and Williamson counties under a flood advisory in light of the heavy rain, in effect until 10:15 p.m. on Thursday night. Just before 7:30 p.m., National Weather Service officials said Doppler radar indicated heavy rain as a result of the thunderstorms, which had the potential to cause minor flooding in some areas.

Later, weather officials issued a flash flood warning for Travis County, in effect until 10:45 p.m. amid the threat of "life-threatening" conditions. Later, the flash flood warning was extended to 1:45 a.m. on Friday for Travis and Hays counties.

Among the locations predicted to experience flooding were Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Taylor, Elgin, Granger, Tanglewood Forest, Serenada, Anderson Mill, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Windemere, Leander, Hutto, Lakeway, Manor, Lago Vista, Bee Cave and West Lake Hills.

As of 10 p.m., more than 30 crossings were closed as a result of high water. Drivers are urged to consult ATXfloods.com to see a map of roadways closed to traffic given high water levels. Motorists are strongly urged to avoid these areas and find alternative routes to reach their destinations.

Other parts of the city where medics were dispatched for water rescues included:

The 1700 block of South Interstate 35 southbound service road, where two vehicles were stalled in high water. Medics noted both vehicles were unoccupied by the time they arrived at the scene.

Another rescue call was made to South 1st Street at West Oltorf Street, where five cars were reported stalled in high water. All the vehicles were unoccupied by the time medics arrived at the scene.

Another emergency call was made to the 400 block of West Slaughter Lane, where medics received initial reports of a person inside a vehicle stuck in rising water. The occupant of the car was out of the vehicle when medics arrived, and was not deemed to be in danger.