Storm preparation on lakes urged with storm threat

AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - With Lake Travis now full, water covers much of the ramp that leads down to a swamped beach area at the county park near Mansfield Dam. For some the high water is no cause for alarm—they’ve seen it before—but the risk of what could happen is not being ignored.

“I’m going to talk to my bosses, we’re probably going to pull boats out of the water but I’m sure we will be fine,” said local contractor Levi Keaton.

At Graveyard Point, Larry DuPuy was also preparing for the coming storms. 

“Kind of patch this roof and move a little bit of stuff out, it’s not, I hope it’s not going to come back up again like it did last time,” said DuPuy.

DuPuy took pictures back in October when the water almost got over his roofline. His family has owned their cabin since the 1950s and fully understand that being on the lake sometimes means being in the lake.

“I’m lucky I’ve got concrete floors concrete walls, cement, Hardie board siding and metal roof donut didn’t bother me too bad- we learned after the first time,” said DuPuy.

Several neighbors have not yet completed repairs from the fall flood. A few red tag notices can be seen posted on windows around Graveyard Point.

With the combined storage of lakes Travis & Buchanan nearly at 100 percent, officials with LCRA say they are keeping a close watch on the weather situation. A release of water downstream may be necessary but of course that will depend on how much rain falls over the next several days. Officials said if floodgate operations become necessary, updates will be posted on the agency’s website, social media and through their Flood Operations Notification Service.

In October, multiple gates were opened at dams along the Highland Lakes chain. It’s too soon to say if a similar action will be necessary in the coming days.

“We’ve just come off the 10th wettest people on record with 5 to 10 inches of rain in pretty widespread here in Central Texas so the ground is saturated,” said FOX 7 meteorologist Zack Shields.

The forecast models and current conditions, according to Shields, are setting up for the possibility of what’s known as a rainbomb.

“It’s always a possibility because we are in the rainy and stormy season it’s just hard to pinpoint exactly where that’s going to happen,” Shields said.

The flood risk is expected to continue beyond this week. Long range forecast models indicate it could be a wet month of May.