San Marcos near Luling hits major flood levels

The San Marcos River near Luling hit major flood levels Sunday night as the rain continued to fall. Residents were on edge and watched as the river was rising, but they said they were prepared to evacuate if needed.

The National Weather Service said flood stage for the river is 20 feet, major flood stage was 30 feet or more and at 7:45 pm it hit 30.06 feet.

Samantha Matura has lived in Luling for 21 years, “Not knowing what the river is going to do especially overnight is very very worrisome. With all the rain coming, I don’t know what’s going to happen with this one so we’ve been kinda waiting and watching,” she said.

In the small town of Luling, the Zeddler Mill seems to be a hot spot for worried residents who want to check on the San Marcos River, and just how high it’s getting.

Matura said between Saturday and Sunday there was already an unnerving difference, “You could still see the damn, so it rose this much and that’s a good at least 15 feet if not more than that.”

Harvey already wreaked havoc on the town of nearly 6,000. Powerful winds broke railroad arms, downed power lines, old large trees hit homes. Some people had been without power for days. Caldwell County emergency responders were urging residents to stay home, and only drive if they absolutely had to.

Surrounded by the waters of the San Marcos River, and Plum Creek nearby, Harvey wouldn’t be the first time the town has seen catastrophic flooding. Harvey’s chaos was an eerie reminder for residents of the deadly historic flooding in 1998.

“There was so many losses, so many homes, so many lives and with them comparing this with that you kind of expect the same thing to happen over again but you’re not really sure if it will be equal or worse or what’s going to happen. It’s kind of a wait and watch and see what happens and you just be ready for the worst and hope for best,” Matura said.

In 1998, was the highest crest in the history of the San Marcos river near Luling at nearly 42-feet. They were expecting it with Harvey to crest Monday morning at 7:00 at 32 feet, so not quite as high but there could still be major flooding in the area.