Texas Gov. Announces Flood Relief (Associated Press) Saying "help is on the way," Gov. Rick Perry has applied for federal disaster relief for areas ravaged by record rainfall from four days of storms. The storm dropped more than 15 inches of rain in San Antonio in one 48-hour period.

Texas Flooding Forces Evacuations (Associated Press)
Hundreds of people were being evacuated Thursday morning from homes and campgrounds around Canyon Lake as water threatened to pour over a rain-swollen dam.

http://www.cnn.com/WEATHER/

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WEATHER/07/04/texas.floods.ap/index.html

http://www.msnbc.com/news/775347.asp

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2002/2002-07-04-texas-flood.htm

Catastrophic Flooding Alert
"Catastrophic flooding is developing on the Guadalupe River below Canyon Dam. River levels will approach those of the 1972 floods. 6 to 8 inches of rain has fallen in the last 24 hours between Canyon Lake and New Braunfels most of that since midnight. Persons who were flooded in 1972 should prepare for flooding.

Catastrophic flooding is developing on the Medina River and the San Antonio River from Elmendorf downstream. Inflow into Medina Lake will continue at very high levels throughout the day. Additional flooding is expected from Bandera downstream to Medina Lake.

Two to five inches of additional rainfall is possible across the entire area today. Flooding is expected to increase in area and severity through the day."

Medina, San Antonio Rivers To Have Record-Setting Flows More Central Texas downpours have added to floodwaters surging downstream toward the Gulf of Mexico as the second of the region's two major dams topped its capacity.

Big Flood 2002: Water Flow up over spillway; residents below brace for floods For days, deadly flooding has ravaged the Hill Country, and now communities downstream are feeling the pain. With thousands of homes evacuated, heavy rains and flash flood warnings continued Friday...

"The already-swollen Guadalupe River grew into a raging waterfall early Friday as a massive amount of water from the Canyon Dam spillway poured into the river. The huge wall of water already started taking its toll on property. KSAT 12 News showed dramatic video of an entire river home that was built on stilts floating on the raging river on Common Street in New Braunfels while a group of residents watched in amazement. The homeowner reportedly took shelter at a hotel on Thursday.

AP NEWS: Texans Brace for Flooding (Associated Press)

"What started as a trickle of water spilling through a dam on a lake swollen from five days of storms has grown into a raging waterfall, threatening to flood homes and businesses in south Texas.

To the West, the Medina River reached 23 feet above flood stage at Bandera on Thursday before water began to recede. The downriver communities of LaCoste and Somerset were expected to reach 20 feet above flood stage late Friday, and perhaps even higher if rains persist."

WEATHERBUG STATION REPORTS:

AWS Boern Station reports 26.45" of rain for July:

AWS Eleanor Kolitz Academy Station reports 16.67" of rain for July:

RADAR-ESTIMATED PRECIP SHOTS:

The AccuWeather Doppler Estimated Precipitation Composite shows 6-10" of rain near San Antonio in the last 24 hours: The weekly total shows well over 24" (off the chart) in the last week (mostly in the last 5 days):

The 30-day total tells the story best: 40 - 48" in the last 30 days (mostly in the last 5 days):

If you check the June rainfall for San Antonio, you can see they had no measureable rainfall until the last day of the month, which was this start of this flood. In fact they were conserving water and under drought conditions:

The National Weather Service Central Texas NEXRAD Estimated Precipitation graphic shows Over 32.3"* of rain near San Antonio since June 26, primarily in the last 4 days:

The San Antonio Radar shows 33.1"* rain in the last 4 days:

ROAD REPORTS:
134 Roads in the San Antonio area are listed with Flood conditions and
detours/delays:
http://www.dot.state.tx.us/hcr/flood.htm

RIVER REPORTS:
USGS reports record streamflows across state:
http://water.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/dailyMainW?state=tx&map_type=real

NWS Reports two locations over 10 feet above flood stage, 2 at 5-10 feet
above:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/hic/current/river_flooding/graphicsum.jpg

The NUECES RIVER at MATHIS rose over 15 feet in the last 24 hours:

NWS FLOOD SUMMARY: "Continued catastrophic flooding in parts of central and
southern Texas." http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/hic/current/fln/fln_sum.shtml

FLOOD ADVSORIES:
http://hydrology.nws.noaa.gov/oh/hic/WFOs/FLOOD/index.shtml
http://www.uswx.com/us/wx/TX/