I’ve seen many more pictures of the flooding in and around Marble Falls and talked to many more of our dear friends down there since yesterday’s post. Thank God they didn’t receive hardly any additional rain last night. But the devastation from Tuesday night’s flood appears today to be worse than anybody originally thought. At least 150 homes and businesses have been damaged. They are able to produce a little bit of water for residents, but they first have to boil every drop they use. Because of that, most every business and restaurant in Marble Falls is still closed today. Mayor Raymond Whitman, a member of the church in Marble Falls, is estimating millions of dollars in damages to the city’s infrastructure, mainly in washed out bridges and roads. Here’s a short story from the Statesman on Marble Falls’ situation. They’re expecting up to six more inches of rain today and tonight. Here’s an interesting series of charts and tables from the LCRA on all five of the Highland Lakes. Scroll down and check out the spikes on the lake levels at Lake Marble Falls and Lake Travis. They’re still in a “major flood event” this morning on Travis. Here are some pictures and commentary from my good friend Jimmy Mitchell, the youth minister in Marble Falls. And here’s a whole bunch of great pictures from KXAN-TV in Austin. And, I can’t help it. Here are the ones that have impacted me the most. I’m not very good (any good at all, actually) at positioning these pictures where I’d like. Help me, John!!! Pardon the weird style of all this.
This is 
the creek behind the Methodist church and Margarita’s, between 1431 and Mission Hills Drive, where we lived for the past two years. This is a portion of Avenue J 
near downtown that’s been washed out. This is Commerce Street where Dan Burdett lost four or five of his storage units. 
A couple of boat shops and BFI’s Burnet County headquarters are there and received lots of damage from the flooding of Whitman Branch. Here’s a picture of one of many cars that were washed out on Highway-1431 just east of town. 
Johnson Park is still under water. 
This is the view from the skate park looking towards Johnson Park and Backbone Creek. Here’s another of Johnson Park. 
This is Lakeside Park where all the picnic pavilions were under water. 
And this is the section of Broadway, right there by the Boys & Girls club, leading up to the old Marble Falls Elementary. 
Here’s some more of the damage that was done to the businesses along 281 next to Whitman Branch. Cars and boats and debris thrown around and into other cars and boats and windows and buildings. 
Next to the shots of Johnson Park, this is the picture that overwhelms me most. This is the arm of the Llano River that shoots out onto the Kingsland Slab. That bridge that’s covered there is only for cars. If you want to get out into all that, you generally just step across on the rocks. I’ve never seen that more than knee deep. Never. That’s where you take the little kids to play in the water and picnic. I can’t believe how deep and wide it is today! 
Finally, arial shots of Wirtz Dam between Lakes LBJ and Marble Falls 
and of Starcke Dam between Lakes Marble Falls and Travis. 
To all our dear friends in the Hill Country and along the beautiful Highland Lakes, we love y’all and we’re thinking of y’all and praying for y’all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
63 more days until football season. And the all-time #63 is Gene Upshaw. Out of Texas A&I Kingsville (Javelinas?), he was the Oakland Rai-duhs #1 pick in 1967 and played on the offensive line with Art Shell and John Madden for most of his 15 NFL seasons. Upshaw played in ten AFL/AFC title games and three Super Bowls. He played in 307 career games and became the first ever exclusive offensive guard to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He’s making big-time news now as the long-time head of the NFL Players Association and catching all kinds of heat for taking care of current players but ignoring and neglecting all the old-timers who can’t get out of bed in the mornings because of their chronic injuries and illnesses directly related to their football careers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Therefore, this is what the Lord says, ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty. Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says, ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.'” ~Zechariah 1:16-17
Peace,
Allan
0 Comments
1 Pingback