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Five years ago: Devastation along the Blanco River

The fifth anniversary of the Blanco River flood in Wimberley occurred over the Memorial Day weekend.

WIMBERLEY, Texas — This Memorial Day weekend marked the fifth anniversary of devastating floods that swamped Blanco and Hays counties.

Hardest hit in 2015 was Wimberley, where 13 people died. Many had been swept away by rapidly rising waters brought on by severe thunderstorms that dumped as much as 10 inches of rainwater.

Making matters worse, the ground was already saturated with water from heavy rainfall earlier that spring.

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The storm formed upstream and followed the river downstream, creating a record 40-foot crest. Along the banks of the Blanco River, cabins, vacation homes, large trees, cars and boats were destroyed. 

Several of those who lost their lives were visitors from Corpus Christi who were not able to hear the rising water emergency alerts on their cellphones since they were from out of town. Some were trapped in a house that was engulfed by the flooded river and floated away.

If there was a bright spot from such an enormous tragedy, it was that the people of Wimberley rallying together to help those who had escaped the damaging waters to welcome survivors in their homes until new shelter could be found.

WATCH: Wimberley man helps save digital files after disasters  

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