Austin area flooding: At least 10 dead, search efforts continue

Flash flood watches are in effect for most of the Austin-area on Sunday, while crews work to try to find those who went missing in this weekend's flooding.

As of Sunday evening, five people were reported dead in Travis County, three deaths were reported in Burnet County, and two deaths were confirmed in Williamson County. Others are still missing. That includes a teenager and a fire official who were swept away.

In the last 48 hours, some parts of Central Texas have seen 15 inches of rain.

Off and on rain in the area on Sunday will make things difficult as crews attempt to work.

Live Updates

9:35 p.m.

Kendra Jones, a Leander resident, says she has lived here for about six years.

She says a neighbor called her just before 3 a.m. to tell her about the flooding.

"I opened our back door to look. I could see pretty much a raging river running through my backyard where there should not have been any water and it was a very sobering experience. We came to the bridge to see if we could even get out and when we got to the bridge over here there were cars floating across the road," Jones said.

7:24 p.m.

Williamson County says it has confirmed two deaths in connection to Saturday's flooding.

The first victim was recovered late Saturday night, 22-year-old Kaitlyn Swallow of Libert Hill.

The remains of another person were recovered after a full day of searching.

One more person remains missing, according to Williamson County officials.

"My heart goes out to those who lost their loved ones in the devastating floods over the holiday weekend," said County Judge Steven Snell. "I am very grateful for the tireless work of first responders, Road and Bridge crews and other county personnel over the past two days. I also am grateful for the assistance from neighboring agencies and the State of Texas. We have a long way to go in this recovery phase, but I know Williamson County is a caring and resilient community. The outpouring of support from the public to those impacted is humbling."

On Monday, Williamson County crews will evaluate roads that were damaged by the floodwaters.

7:16 p.m.

Actor Matthew McConaughey asks for people to lend a helping hand to Texans dealing with the flooding in the state.

6:34 p.m.

Williamson and Travis Counties are among the areas dealing with floods.

5:13 p.m.

A look at some of the damage left behind in Georgetown, where flooding badly damaged  an RV park in the area.

4:31 p.m.

The Burnet County Sheriff's Office says they have recovered the remains of 3 people and that there are 5 others who are missing, including the Marble Falls Area VFD fire chief.

Burnet County identified one of the victims as Preston Prince. They say they are not in a position to give any more details about the others that are missing or that have been recovered.

Crews are searching in three areas off FM 1431 between Faith Academy and the Cow Creek area , with a fourth search at north US Hwy 281 near Hamilton creek in Burnet.

3:15 p.m.

The Texas Division of Emergency Management released numbers of those dead in Central Texas.

• Burnet County: 3
• Travis County: 5
• Williamson County: 1

3:01 p.m.

At a news conference in Austin, the Texas Department of Public Safety says that two people are missing in Williamson County and two others are missing in Burnet County.

Those missing in Burnet County are a 17-year-old female and the fire chief.

2:08 p.m.

The Lower Colorado River Authority is asking people in Central Texas to stay off the lakes for the next few days.

Because of the debris brought by flooding, The LCRA is advising people to stay off lakes Buchanan, Inks, LBJ, Marble Falls and Travis.

 "Safety is our top priority, and it’s not safe to be on the lakes now under the conditions we’re seeing," said John Hofmann, LCRA executive vice president of Water. "We’ll continue to evaluate the lakes daily and will let you know when conditions improve enough for us to remove the advisory."

1:55 p.m.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson released a statement on Sunday.

"The pain we’ve seen across our region this weekend is heartbreaking and there are no good words to describe our grief and sadness for the loss of life, including the loss of children. We share a deep fear of more loss, but we hold on to hope. We must. Hope matters. I am grateful for the professional staff across our region, county, and city who have been on the frontlines of the rescue and recovery efforts. They have our deepest thanks," Watson said.

12:57 p.m.

Barton Springs pool has been closed on Sunday. Officials say the pool is filled with debris and murky water.

All other Austin Parks and Recreation pools are open.

11:10 a.m.

Williamson County officials said 29 roads remain closed in the county, six of which were damaged. Go to atxfloods.com for a full list. Several pets were rescued from Shady River RV Park near Georgetown.  

11:05 a.m.

Williamson County officials say one person has died and two people remain missing. One of the missing people was swept away when they got out of their vehicle, which stalled after they drove through floodwaters. The person who died was found under a submerged vehicle that had also been swept away by floodwaters. 

11:02 a.m. 

No boating, swimming or recreation is allowed on Lake Travis until further notice, officials said. There is a lot of debris in the lake and authorities say it's not safe. 

11 a.m. 

The Red Cross has established a hotline for people to report missing loved ones. The number is 1-800-733-2767. 

10:55 a.m.

Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez said 911 calls from the early morning hours of July 5 give a timeline of when floodwaters started to surge. At 1 a.m., there were 49 flood-related calls. By 3 a.m., that number had risen to 112. 

"Floodwaters rose so quickly, that access to many of those callers was cut off," she said. 

10:45 a.m. 

At a news conference Sunday morning, Travis County Judge Andy Brown cautioned that "this disaster is not over."

"Rain seems to be slowing down, but damage assessment and debris removal will still take weeks. We're still under a flash flood watch," he said. 

8:52 a.m.

Four people are now confirmed dead in Travis County, according to Travis County Emergency Services District 1 Chief Donnie Norman.

Norman said 13 people are still missing as crews are actively searching Sandy Creek and Cow Creek.

Ten additional engines from the county and state have been brought in to aid with the search.

8:27 a.m.

Travis County officials will hold a news conference on the flooding and their search efforts on Sunday morning.

The news conference will be held at 10:30 a.m.

You will be able to watch it on this page.

Leander

Travis County Emergency Services District 1 tells FOX 7 they are ramping up search efforts for missing people in Leander.

Crews are searching an area near Nameless Road and Sandy Creek Road where several homes were affected.

More flooding possible Sunday

The flood threat continues on Sunday with more rain expected for the area.

The flash flood risk is a bit higher for portions of the Hill Country.

A flash flood watch was extended from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday morning.

Williamson and Travis County are under a level one risk, according to the Storm Prediction Center's 1 to 5 scale.

We do not expect to see as much rain as we saw on Friday or Saturday.

Most areas will see about an inch or two of rain, but some pockets could see heavier totals.

Some isolated areas could see 2 to 4 inches of rain, with a slight possibility of up to 10 inches.

At this point, it is hard to decipher where those heavier pockets may be.

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