June 2, 2015 (Williamson County, TX) – The Williamson County Commissioners Court approved extending the county disaster declaration. The declaration begins with the storm on May 8, 2015, that led to flooding in Coupland and extends into the future until the Commissioner Court lifts it. No dollar estimate is available for damage to private property; however, the total estimated damage to public facilities including Road and Bridge, water controls such as dams, public utilities and recreation facilities, airports, etc. comes to $6,730,774 to date.
In the Memorial Day weekend storms, the county had one fatality, two persons with injuries, and one hospitalization. The storm on Saturday night, May 23, produced two F1 tornadoes that touched down causing damage in Liberty Hill and the Gabriels Overlook neighborhood on the west side of Georgetown according to the National Weather Service.
Throughout the county, there were 159 single family homes affected including three that are considered destroyed and 51 had major damage. There were 41 multi-family units affected, 35 destroyed and three with major damage. There were 14 businesses affected, three with major damage. Due to the low percentage of residences that were covered by insurance, many residents will need assistance for repairs and recovery. Ways to help flood victims can be found at www.wilco.org/oem or www.austintexas.gov/howtohelp
Currently, no homes are isolated due to flooding, although several county roads are still closed due to high water. Roads closures are listed at www.atxfloods.com and on the Williamson County Emergency Services Facebook page.
Water from storms on Memorial Day more than flooded roads, it washed them away! Williamson County Road and Bridge Division closed over 85 county roads due to high water. When the water subsided, it was found that many of the roads had sustained structural damage. The damage to seven of those roads was so severe that the road was considered impassable to traffic and closed until repairs could be made. Temporary repairs were made within 24 hours to almost all of the roads with only one county road, C.R. 384, remaining closed due to storm damage. The total estimate of storm damage for Road and Bridge comes to $1,872,590 to date.
Details of response to the weather on Memorial Day:
- 40 requests for water rescues or evacuations
- 4 shelters were opened:
- Hutto Middle School, 1005 Exchange Blvd., Hutto
- Clay Madsen Center, 1600 Gattis School Rd., Round Rock
- Leander High School, 3301 S. Bagdad, Leander
- Oasis Church, 1616 Granger Road, Taylor
- The Regional Notification System was used to notify residents all along the Brushy Creek watershed east of FM 685 to evacuate due to rising water.
- The Upper Brushy Creek WCID reports that the auxiliary spillways were engaged at Dam 17, 18, 19, and 21. This means the lake levels are being released through the auxiliary spillways causing additional flows to reach the creeks. In addition, it was discovered on May 29 that Dam 22 suffered damage which caused the earth on the downstream side to slough off or slide down. The Williamson County Road and Bridge Division assisted in constructing a berm on the downstream side to stabilize the dam from additional sliding. The BCWCID also pumped water from the lake in order to draw down the lake level.
