Major Flooding in SAN AUGUSTINE, Texas

[KatDaddy]

I have been watching the radar all day as portions of extreme East Texas have been pounded by very intense rains. Hourly rate anywhere from 3-6" per hour and radar total over 10".


FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
307 PM CDT SUN MAR 30 2008

TXC405-302230-
/O.CON.KSHV.FF.W.0011.000000T0000Z-080330T2230Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
SAN AUGUSTINE TX-
307 PM CDT SUN MAR 30 2008

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 530 PM CDT FOR SAN
AUGUSTINE COUNTY...

AT 306 PM CDT...THE PUBLIC REPORTED A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING FLASH
FLOODING OVER THE WARNED AREA. BOATS HAVE BEEN RESCUING PEOPLE FROM
HOMES IN SAN AUGUSTINE!! CURRENTLY ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH
VERY HEAVY RAIN HAS DEVELOPED DIRECTLY OVER SAN AUGUSTINE!!
LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO SAN AUGUSTINE
AND BLAND LAKE

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES. ADDITIONALLY...COUNTRY
ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS...STREAMS AND OTHER LOW
LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLOODING.

[Ed Mahmoud]

San Augustine, TX

In 1717 Father Antonio Márgil de Jesús established Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de los Ais Mission near the Ais village on Ayish Bayou. After being abandoned because of the threat of a French invasion in 1719, the mission was reestablished on the site of modern San Augustine by the Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo in 1721.

Ayish Bayou flows through the town two miles west of the public square, and Carrizo Creek has been dammed just southwest of San Augustine to form City Lake, the source of municipal water.

San Augustine has been around a while.

[Ed Mahmoud]

IIRC, of almost 200 Texas counties, only San Augustine, San Jacinto, San Patricio and San Saba counties are named for Catholic saints.

[Ed Mahmoud]

TORNADO WARNING
LAC085-TXC403-302200-
/O.NEW.KSHV.TO.W.0019.080330T2120Z-080330T2200Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
420 PM CDT SUN MAR 30 2008

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
NORTHEASTERN SABINE COUNTY IN EASTERN TEXAS...
SABINE PARISH IN NORTHWEST LOUISIANA...

* UNTIL 500 PM CDT

* AT 418 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 7 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF ZWOLLE...OR ABOUT 29 MILES NORTH OF TOLEDO BEND DAM...
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
ZWOLLE BY 430 PM CDT...

[Tstormwatcher]

Saw the report on the Weather Channel, they were keeping hourly updates on the situation. They were reporting over 9 inches of rain with deep reds still over the area.

[inclement1955]

I was in the middle of the Sabine County(next to SA County),TX storm(7 miles North of Milam). I have been visiting this area since 1956 and have never seen this extent of rain in such a short time- 14 inches in 11 hours. I also live in Houston-30 years- and even Houston could not beat this.Well maybe Tropical Allison but it did a loopback- I have 3 small creeks on my land that expanded into a larger that formed a huge lake in these Piney woods.This is a very lightly populated area- In a large city it would be a catastrophe. This IMHO was a 150 year event as it also tore out a concrete bridge at Reeves road and Patroon creek-30-40 cows were seen floating down that creek-most were recovered on an island. My 91 year old Great Aunt nearby said this has never happened- the degree. My house is high on land(orig my GGGGrandfather) that has been occupied since 1843. The water came within 40-50 feet. We were a little concerned. I took high def video if anyone is interested. I may convert it to SD and you tube it.

[CajunMama]

Please youtube it inclement. I heard there was alot rain and flooding up there.

[jasons2k]

Yes, please Youtube it. Glad you are OK, that's for sure!

[PTrackerLA]

It was amazing to see these intense thunderstorms (some even tornadic) constantly redeveloping over the same areas that had already received over 10". We had a similar occurence last year just south of Lafayette but it was isolated to a very small area. This event covered a MUCH larger area. Would love to see some pictures/video of the flooding up there as I'm sure this was an unprecedented event.

[dukecharmary]

I live in White Rock, about 5 NE of San Augustine. Yesterday I emptied my rain gauge 3 times. It is a 6 inch accurate gauge and when topped off it is 6 and half inches. Anyway from about 5 am to 5:30 pm I recorded 20 inches at our ranch. It was definitely historical. I lived in Beaumont for 30 years before retiring here and never,even in a tropical storm sitting overhead for 3 days have I seen this much rain. Once the gauge filled up in 3 hours. I have a new 3 acre pond that was dry when this started and now it is full and running over.
Charlie