JUNCTION, Texas (AP) — Rescue crews in boats and helicopters were searching for at least four people missing since heavy rain washed away a recreational vehicle park in a small West Texas city.
According to City of Junction spokesperson Logan Scherschel, there have been no fatalities. He said four people are missing with search and rescue underway. 19 people were pulled from the water, and 40 to 50 people were evacuated this morning before the flooding began.
Of the four people who are missing, three are from a pipeline company. Game wardens said they were swept away while trying to get people out of the park.
The river is expected to rise to major flood stage at just over 23 feet at Llano. This height would be the highest the river has been in nearly 20 years and would be the fifth highest height in recorded history.
Eventually, the water will be moved carefully downstream by the Lower Colorado River Authority into Lake Travis, which has plenty of storage at this time.
The LCRA reported that the Llano River at Junction crested at 15.2 feet above flood stage Monday morning at 10 a.m. That flood water is moving and expected to reach the Highland Lakes by Tuesday. Once that happens, the LCRA plans to open the floodgates at Wirtz and Starcke dams to move the waters into Lake Travis.
At 4:48 p.m., the LCRA reported that flood operations at Wirtz and Starke dams have begun or will being soon. They advised people in the area to take immediate action to protect persons or property that may be affected.
The "flood stage" is expected to hit Llano around 9 p.m. Monday night, after officials previously predicted it would arrive by 2 a.m. on Tuesday. It is forecast to crest at 23.4 feet.
The LCRA expects Lake Travis to rise two or three feet over the next few days.
Kimble County Sheriff Hilario Cantu said Monday morning that no fatalities have been confirmed in the floods in Junction, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) west of Austin, but that "all the RVs, everything, got swept away."
Cantu says state and local agencies are helping with the rescues. Authorities say the city of about 2,500 people had been without electricity earlier, but it's been restored.
In a post on Twitter, the Texas Game Warden said they were conducting helicopter rescues on the river. The agency reported that 19 people and a dog had been rescued by boat and by chopper.
National Weather Service meteorologist Aaron Woodward says the main flooding is along the South Llano River, next to the RV park. Woodward says radar estimates show that up to 12 inches of rain has fallen in the area since Sunday evening.
Cantu said earlier Monday they did not yet know how many people or vehicles might have been swept away. He said an RV park is adjacent to a city and county park. He said the county park doesn't allow overnight stays, but the city side does. There were people camping there, but it's not regulated, so he doesn't know how many people might have been there.
"The problem with the RV park, as far as getting accounting of people and getting information, the main office was also swept away," he said. "So whatever records they had there are not accessible."