Flash Floods in Texas

May 1957: Lampasas Mother’s Day Flood

~~~~~~~~~ may 1957 Lampasas Mother’s Day Flood fall. Austin and Waco were each more than 17 inches below average, Taylor was more than 19 inches below average, and Abilene failed to gauge even 10 inches of rain for the year, more than 13 inches below average. The early 1957 weather pattern exhibited the same dry weather of the previous years. Rains in February and March were close to average and brought some relief from the drought. In April, heavy rains fell throughout most of the state, and Waco tallied more than 13 inches that month. For all of 1956, the city recorded only 15.1 inches of precipitation. By early May, stories of dust and drought were being replaced by accounts of flooding and high water. Between Clifton and Meridian , the North Bosque River was out of its banks. Wichita Falls residents were evacuated due to high water. Flood-related damages in Bell County alone were estimated at $750,000. With heavy discharges in the Brazos River basin, the benefits of flood protection from recently constructed dams at Lake Belton and Lake Whitney were being estimated at around $23.7 million. (The actual damage totaled $27.5 million; damage estimates without the dams were as high as $51 million.) Near the Texas coast, flood victims near Angleton survived for several days by consuming boiled armadillos and turnip greens. Angleton was located 12 miles from the Brazos, but water from the river, which was estimated to be 13 miles wide, spread out to within 2 miles of town. ByMay11bothendsofthestateweredealingwithinundations .InEastTexas,Liberty the spring of 1957 marked perhaps the most dramatic shift in Texas weather in the 1900s. The oppressive and unrelenting weather pattern that marked the 1950s as the drought years finally broke in April of 1957. As hallmark springs such as Comal Springs reached their lowest flows or ceased flowing altogether, 1956 became one of the driest years in Texas history. In the spring of 1957, residents’ nearly decade-long prayers for rain were answered. The established shift in the rainfall pattern began in April 1957. The apex of the reversal occurred on Mother’s Day, May 12, 1957, when heavy rains fell throughout Central Texas, setting off flash floods throughout the region. The most spectacular one welled up in a familiar location—Lampasas. Twice during its history (in 1873 and 1936), Lampasas found itself in the path of major floods on Sulphur Creek. By 1957 a levee had been fortified to protect the town from floods on Sulphur Creek. In the spring of 1957 the Soil Conservation Service received approval to build flood-control structures upstream of Lampasas. Unfortunately, the Mother’s Day flash flood that year proved the levee in place at the time was inadequate and that the planned flood-control structures were essential for protecting the town. Precedent The spring of 1957 marked the true ending of the severe drought of the 1950s. The previous year, 1956, was one of the driest in Texas history, and much of the state received less than fifty percent of normal rainA4481 .indb 162 A4481.indb 162 1/18/08 1:51:47 PM 1/18/08 1:51:47 PM ~~~ l ampa s a s mother ’s day flo od 163 was expecting its biggest flood since 1942. In West Texas, heavy rains closed Highway 80 at Big Spring. Reports stated, “Jubilant ranchmen in the area, powder dry with President Eisenhower visiting in January, said that a seven-year drought may be broken .” In Central Texas, April’s heavy rains produced significant rises on the forks of the San Gabriel. On the North San Gabriel River near Georgetown, the river rose to within 3 feet of the 1921 flood. On the South San Gabriel near Leander, water was 6.4 feet higher than the 1921 flood, the highest since at least the 1869 deluge. InLampasas,theweatherfollowedthe statewidepatternofthefirstfourmonths of1957.AtthestartofFebruary,thedry weatherrenderedpasturelandalmostuseless .Reportingthattheyhadlessgrassthan ever,rancherswereburningcactusfortheir cattletoeat.However,aftertherainsofFebruaryandMarch ,someoftheresidentscommentedthatthe “countylooksbetterthanit hasin15years.” Despitethatnoteofhope, theyaddedthatmorerainswouldberequired torejuvenatethegroundbeyondthetopsoil. Like most of Texas, by the end of April, Lampasas was experiencing problems from too much water rather than too little. The Looking north-northeast toward the Lampasas County courthouse from the East Seventh and South Chestnut Street intersection (courtesy of Gladden C. Corbin). Lampasas River Lampasas Bear Creek Espy Branch Pillar Bluff Creek Manatt Creek Sulphur Creek Sulphur Creek Basin A4481.indb 163 A4481.indb 163 1/18/08 1:51:48 PM 1/18/08 1:51:48 PM [18.221.53.209] Project...