Cinco de Mayo flooding leads to water rescues, high damages

Saturday night and early Sunday morning flooding led to the closure of area roadways and the rescue of at least 15 Lampasas County residents. Due to the intensity of the flooding, county commissioners approved a disaster declaration for the event on Monday morning. 
According to the Lampasas County Sheriff's Office, more than 8 inches of rainfall in counties northeast of Lampasas created flash flooding along the Lampasas River. 
Major roadway closures were initiated Sunday morning due to intense flooding included U.S. Highway 281 near Adamsville, FM 580 East and FM 2313, and U.S 190 near Big Divide Road. High waters were also reported on FM 3170 east of Kempner near the Burnet County line. All roadways have been reopened as of 9 a.m. Monday morning. 
“I lost track of how many calls we ran,” said Lampasas Fire Chief Joe Adams. “There were a bunch of rescues on U.S. 281 North at the Lampasas River.”
Adams said he recalled five individuals rescued from a pickup truck, one from a car, and a number of people evacuated from their homes in Adamsville, Lometa and Lampasas. LFD crews were working rescue calls between 1 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Despite that, Lampasas County Sheriff Ramos said no fatalities have yet been reported. 
“We had so many agencies out helping us,” he said. “It’s great to know all these agencies came to help. This flash flooding was crazy.” 
Ramos said as of Monday morning, he knows of eight houses that took in “considerable water,” and three vehicles completely lost, one of which had occupants pulled from the flood waters just beforehand.
“There were five people rescued off the hood—the roof— of the pickup, and then that truck just rolled away,” he said.
The details of the rescue incidents are still being tallied, he said.

MONDAY REPORT
County Emergency Management Coordinator Angela Rainwater provided the Lampasas County Commissioners Court with an update from Sunday’s flood events during a special called meeting Monday morning.
“From what we know, there were about 12 rescues in Adamsville and three in Kempner,” Rainwater said. 
Rainwater said that Texas A&M Task Force 1, which coordinates the state’s swift-water rescue alongside the Texas Military Department, arrived in Lampasas prior to the heavy rainfall, although TX-TF1 was shifted to assist with flooding in Hamilton County. 
She said the majority of water rescues were carried out by local fire departments, including the Lampasas Fire Department, Adamsville Volunteer Fire Department, Kempner Volunteer Fire Department and Lometa Volunteer Fire Department. 
State agencies including the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Department of Transportation also assisted in rescue efforts. Texas Game Wardens provided a helicopter for a water rescue in Kempner. 
Adamsville, the area most affected by the flooding, received assistance from the Red Cross to help five residents who had been displaced. Rainwater said she is unaware whether those residents ended up staying in the Red Cross-provided shelter. 
Rainwater added that Lampasas County AgriLife Extension Agent Heath Lusty will be assessing livestock and crop losses due to the flooding. Information will be reported to the state once it is compiled.

AG LOSSES
During Monday’s Commissioners Court meeting, Precinct 2 Commissioner Jamie Smart said a rancher in his precinct lost 200 bales of hay.
Ramos told the Dispatch Record that for many local ranchers, that hay was their only preparation for the winter.
“With hay bales going for $200 a piece, that’s a lot of money washed down the river,” he said.
Agriculture losses are expected to be heavy for some Lampasas County residents. 
“I had one rancher in my precinct as of this morning had 130 heads of cattle gone,” Precinct 4 Commissioner Mark Rainwater said. “It looked like a horror movie in places, with cattle dangling on trees or on fences.”
Lampasas rancher Mickey Edwards said land he leases south of Kempner was flooded by the Lampasas River, but no cattle were threatened. 
“It washed away a lot of our fences,” he said. “There was a lot of destruction up and down the river, mainly fences, cattle and hay.”
With calves valued at between $1,600 and $1,800 a head, the losses for some ranchers are great, Edwards said. 
“That adds up in a hurry. Lots of that loss is not insured,” he said.
Edwards said the last major flood Lampasas County has seen with this sort of devastation was in 1991. 
“We had 11 days of rain in December and January that year,” he said. 
Any Lampasas County residents who suffered residential or agricultural damages due to the high waters should visit damage.tdem.texas.gov to file a claim. Click on the link that says “Spring Severe Weather and Flooding Event.”

Adamsville Baptist Church was open to those in need on Sunday while they waited for flood waters to recede.