Austin, TX

Flash Flood Warnings issued in Central Texas, ground search operations suspended

Published

8 months ago

July 13, 2025

Flash Flood Warnings

AUSTIN – Life-threatening flash flooding is underway in the Texas Hill Country, with multiple counties under emergency warnings.

The Latest:

Flash Flood Warning from 7/13/2025 10:52 AM to 1:00 PM CDT for San Saba County, TX.

Flash Flood Warning from 7/13/2025 10:28 AM to 12:30 PM CDT for Mason County, TX

Flash Flood Warning from 7/13/2025 10:16 AM to 12:45 PM CDT for Gillespie County, TX, Llano County, TX

Flood Warnings

Flood Warning from 7/13/2025 11:18 AM to 7/15/2025 2:20 PM CDT for Llano County

Flood Warning from 7/13/2025 10:49 AM to 2:00 PM CDT for Lampasas County, TX.

Flood Warning from 7/13/2025 11:48 AM to 7/17/2025 3:49 AM CDT for San Saba County, TX

Flood Warning from 7/13/2025 9:28 AM to 6:00 PM CDT for Bell County, TX.

UPDATE (8:50 AM): LCRA has opened one floodgate at Wirtz Dam and will open multiple floodgates at Starcke Dam soon to release storm runoff flowing into Lake LBJ. Conditions are dynamic, and it is possible LCRA may need to open additional floodgates throughout the day.

Road Closures

Travis County

1431 Cow Creek Bridge: Crews are actively removing debris and the damaged bridge structure from the Cow Creek area on RM 1431 in northwest Travis County. This critical work is being done in preparation for full reconstruction. TxDOT is expediting the process with plans to award a construction contract as soon as next week. Once a contractor is secured, construction will begin immediately.

Lampasas

The Lampasas River 190 Bridge in Kempner is closed. There are power/phone lines in the water snagging debris. Please stay clear of the water.

In Kempner, Lampasas River at 2313 (Source: Kempner VFD)

Due to last night’s excessive rainfall, Lampasas city departments have been working to keep everyone safe. The Lampasas Streets Department has closed numerous low-water crossings and roadways. Due to the severe flooding, many sections of road that aren’t normally closed are currently impassable. Crews will reopen them as soon as conditions allow.

The Fire Department rescued several people and pets from homes and coordinated temporary relocation.

All electrical outages have been repaired by the Electric Department. The Police Department has been busy coordinating communications for these services, assisting the other departments, and patrolling to spot any dangers.

Please be aware that WM Brook Park is closed today due to high water in Sulphur Creek.

With a continued chance of rain in the forecast, please watch for high water and debris in the roadway if you must drive.

Kerr County

The Rio Vista low water crossing off Highway 39 is closed. Residents and emergency responders may use the Cade Loop bridge crossing at this time. Please stay home and avoid the area, and remain weather-aware for further warnings.

San Saba

Due to the overnight and continuing rains this morning, the San Saba River is now at 16–18 feet (not 30.5 feet) and rising. LCRA is predicting the river to crest at 31.5 feet at midnight. Please be aware and be prepared, particularly those citizens north of the railroad tracks close to the river.

Burnet County

Closures because of flooded crossings in Pct 2 as of 9:25am
RM 963
FM 243
FM 2340
CR 223
CR 207
CR 228
CR 202
CR 203
CR 200

Due to unsafe conditions following last night’s rain, the Burnet Recycle Center is closed today. You will not be able to dispose of flood debris this Sunday, July 13, 2025. We hope it will be back open tomorrow, but please look for updates on this page to see when operations will resume.

Bell County

Bell County Emergency Management has an Emergency Operations Command at the Southwestern Bell County Volunteer Fire Department. There has been substantial rainfall west (upstream) and the Lampasas River is reacting to that rainfall. The Gulf River Authority has said to expect the Lampasas River to rise to 41 feet, which will cause some flood issues along Riverside Trail in Triple 7, and west around Maxdale.

A Code Red alert was sent to those in that affected area. Southwestern Bell VFD has gone door to door all morning, making everyone aware and evacuating those in danger, and two swift water rescue crews are staged and on standby.

TxDOT is en route with barricades for FM2670 and Road and Bridge is en route to stage here for county road issues that may take place.

Assets are staged in areas of Lampasas, Kempner and Adamsville to respond anywhere along the Lampasas river if needed.

Emergency Alerts

8:27 a.m. An Emergency Alert was sent to people in the flash flood warning areas saying this is a dangerous and life-threatening situation. Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.

7:54 a.m. There is a high probability of the Guadalupe River at Hunt reaching flood stage today. All persons, equipment and vehicles should be removed from the river immediately.

Power Outages

9 a.m. Pedernales Electric reports more than 1,000 customers are without power in Williamson, TX

Ground Search Operations

As of 7:49 a.m., all ground search operations in Kerrville are suspended due to the flood danger. All search crews were told to evacuate the river corridor until further notice. Any volunteer search parties in the Guadalupe River corridor need to heed this warning. The potential for flash flooding is high.

Search-and-rescue teams have been searching for missing victims of the July 4 weekend flooding that killed at least 129 people and left more than 170 missing.

As heavy rain fell Sunday, National Weather Service forecasters warned that the Guadalupe River could rise to nearly 15 feet (4.6 meters) by Sunday afternoon, about five feet above flood stage and enough to put the Highway 39 bridge near Hunt underwater.

“Numerous secondary roads and bridges are flooded and very dangerous,” a weather service warning said.

Sunday Forecast

Heavy rain and life-threatening flash flooding hammered the Texas Hill Country early Sunday, prompting a flash flood emergency in southeastern San Saba County and urgent warnings across several central Texas counties.

Austin residents are advised to remain vigilant as the weather system, which has already dumped 6 to 8 inches of rain in some areas, is expected to move toward the Austin metro area and further east throughout the day.

We’re seeing life-threatening flash flooding. Residents in affected areas are urged to seek higher ground immediately if they receive an evacuation notice.

Flash Flood Emergency

A flash flood emergency was issued for southeastern San Saba until 7 a.m. Sunday, specifically targeting the Colorado Bend State Park and surrounding areas. Rowe noted that a river gauge in the area had already jumped approximately 12 feet.

Additional flash flood warnings were in effect for several counties, including San Saba and Mason until 9 a.m., Lampasas until 8 a.m., and both Burnet and Llano until 8:15 a.m.

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and local emergency officials strongly advised against travel in areas with flash flood warnings. Residents were told to stay away from rivers, creeks, and low-lying areas. Rowe stressed the critical safety message: “Turn around, don’t drown.”

Severe Weather Possible

While the immediate concern remains flooding, the region also faces a marginal risk of severe weather, including hail and gusty winds.

The heavy rain boundary is moving from north to south, pushing southeast. The Hill Country is expected to experience the worst conditions over the next few hours before the system weakens slightly as it moves into the Austin metro.

Widespread rain will last until 7 p.m. Sunday. While conditions are expected to improve around 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. Sunday evening, the potential for more rainfall exists Monday afternoon and evening.

Some models suggest 2 to 4 inches of additional rainfall in the next 48 hours, with Rowe advising residents not to rule out “several more inches in some spots.”

Officials emphasized the importance of having multiple ways to receive weather alerts, including push notifications, weather radios, and local news apps. If roads are flooded, remember that “six inches can knock over an adult,” and “12 inches to carry away most cars.”

The Source: Information in this article is from the FOX 7 Austin’s weather team.

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Austin, TX

City of Austin Launched New Website This Week

Published

12 hours ago

March 19, 2026

Press Room

City of Austin Launched New Website This Week

The City of Austin launched a new website on Thursday that is intended to bring both a fresh, modern look and better functionality to city business.

The city announced the change in a Wednesday press release. According to the statement, the new website is part of the city’s new digital experience platform, providing significant improvements to its digital services.

Starting Thursday morning, visitors found a “fully responsive” website that should work smoothly across desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile devices.

City Manager T.C. Broadnax celebrated the news. “The launch of the new and improved AustinTexas.Gov has been a long time coming, and I am proud to say that the City of Austin website is now the most efficient place to connect Austinites with the information and resources they need,” he said.

“We have worked hard to make everything on the site easier to find and navigate—whether that’s adopting your next pet, viewing your recycling schedule, or paying your utility bill,” he added.

The new site features updated search capabilities by adding filtering options and better indexing and functions that will return more accurate results.

Community feedback gathered in the initial planning phases of the design helped guide the new site features and improved user experience. In the coming weeks, the city will welcome additional feedback by prompting site visitors to complete a short survey.

The feedback will help inform ongoing improvements and enhancements to the website, which will allow it to continue to evolve to meet the needs of residents.

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Austin, TX

Lead

Published

24 hours ago

March 19, 2026

Press Room

Austin is fortunate to have very low levels of lead in drinking water compared to other parts of the country. Our source waters of Lake Austin and Lake Travis contain no lead, and there is no lead in Austin’s treated drinking water.

Austin Water’s lime softening treatment process, in use since the 1920s, produces non-corrosive, scale-forming water that creates a protective coating on the inside of pipes. This prevents materials such as lead and copper from leaching into the water. More than 30 years before federal bans took effect, Austin also enacted local rules prohibiting lead in plumbing. When lead is occasionally detected at the tap, it is almost always due to contamination from private plumbing or fixtures.

In October 2024, Austin Water completed field investigations of all water service lines in the system. There are no lead service lines in Austin Water’s distribution system.

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Austin, TX

Texas Toll Road Will Be Test Ground for Autonomous Big Rigs

Published

1 day ago

March 18, 2026

Press Room

Texas Toll Road Will Be Test Ground for Autonomous Big Rigs

(TNS) — Self-driving truck firm Einride will soon begin using a Central Texas highway as a test bed for its purpose-built, cabless autonomous freight vehicles.

Einride is partnering with SH 130 Concession Co. to position the Texas 130 toll road, which connects Austin and San Antonio, as a corridor for autonomous freight operations.

Founded in 2016, Einride has more than 25 enterprise customers across North America, Europe and the Middle East. Based in Sweden with U.S. headquarters in Austin, it boasts a proprietary AI platform with a zero-traffic incident safety record.

“This partnership with SH 130 Concession Co. marks an important step forward in proving the scalability and economic benefits of electric and autonomous freight,” said Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli. “By establishing this test bed, Einride is further cementing Austin, Texas, as a hub for our American autonomous freight operations, collaborating with infrastructure operators and regulators to scale safe, performance-based deployments.”

In an announcement Tuesday, Einride said it will test autonomous highway operations on Segments 5 and 6 of Texas 130, which start at the Texas 45 SE split south of Austin near Mustang Ridge and extend through Seguin to I-10. The Texas Department of Transportation operates the northern segments of Texas 130.

Its tests arrive in a complex regulatory environment, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Congress considering how to address the rapidly increasing number of autonomous vehicles on city streets and highways.

But Einride and SH 130 Concession Co. say their partnership provides a strategic route for fleets to move freight reliably through the region.

Einride, which had a fleet of about 200 autonomous and electric trucks as of late 2025, says it operates one of the world’s largest electric heavy-duty fleets. Its autonomous trucks are in daily operation with customers in both the U.S and in Europe. Some of its work has included PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay food distribution near Memphis and transport of finished goods between GE Appliances’ manufacturing facility and warehouse in Selmer, Tenn.

Einride’s new partnership with the private company that operates and maintains the southern section of the state-owned highway could be a higher-stakes test of its autonomous tech.

SH 130 Concession recorded more than 12.6 million transactions on the roadway in 2023 and boasts itself as a safe and fast alternative to the congested Interstate 35 route through the region. The segment of the toll road Einride will use to test its vehicles has the nation’s highest speed limit at 85 mph.

To charge its vehicles, Einride and SH 130 Concession say they are drafting a blueprint for a next-generation rest stop. The stop will manage the autonomous trucks with high-capacity EV charging and specialized docking requirements.

The partners are also exploring the feasibility of integrating Einride’s optimization software, known as Saga AI, with SH 130 Concession’s digital ecosystem to handle data sharing and traffic management.

SH 130 Concession Co. CEO Ananth Prasad said the partnership supports the company’s push for new transportation technology in Texas.

“We’re actively working with freight customers, industry partners and TxDOT to implement new technology solutions,” he said in a statement. “And by aligning digital infrastructure, connectivity readiness, and future charging capacity, SH 130 Concession Company is advancing its ambition to establish the roadway as a nationally recognized route for autonomous freight movement.”

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