Travis County leaders still looking for owners of cars swept away in July 4th floods

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - Fortunately, our Christmas weather is nothing severe, unlike the floods we saw around the Fourth of July holiday.

Several people's cars were swept away in the strong currents and have been sitting in a lot near Cedar Park ever since. 

Travis County leaders said they can't do anything with them until the owners come forward. 

What they're saying:

Between Lago Vista and Cedar Park, FM 1431 is busy with holiday traffic. But near New Hope Road, there is a collection of vehicles going nowhere. Tamara Sims, who lives in Lago Vista, knows this is not a typical junkyard.

"Having these cars sitting here, it is hard to see them. I mean when we go by them, at least one person in my car says something, or I look at them and I feel like, man, the devastation is just so real," said Sims.

The cars, trucks and vans put there are vehicles recovered by Travis County from the July flooding. The vehicles were all crushed by the powerful force that swept them away.

"This flood happened six months ago, and you know doing this story right now is a good reminder that people are still hurting, people are going through the trauma and the pain of what they went through over the 4th of July weekend," said Sims.

The holding area, which is about the size of a football field, was set up by Travis County. The vehicles can't be hauled off until the owners are located, according to county spokesperson Hector Nieto.

"So, we work with the state of Texas to do that. They've been assisting us in trying to help us find those vehicles. All vehicles are registered, not just with the county and state. So, we are trying to work through that process to help them. The state has been assisting with this process," said Nieto.

The vehicles may be totaled, but as scrap metal, there is some value.

"Correct, there is still value to that vehicle. And so we have to give the owners an opportunity to either file insurance claims or just claim it as a loss. And so, we want to make certain residents have every opportunity to do that," said Nieto.

Dig deeper:

Around Sandy Creek, contractors from Travis County have cleared out most of the heavy debris.

"We have removed over 330,000 cubic yards of debris. To put that into perspective, one cubic yard is about the size of a washing. So multiply that by over 330,000 and that's how much debris was removed from the area," said Nieto.

Travis County officials also want residents to not forget the threat of other natural disasters.

"So we want to be mindful of, yes, we do have the potential for a winter storm, always, but the wildfire danger is there year-round, and so that's what we're also concerned about during this time," said Nieto.

Tamara Sims has been thinking ahead.

"We're as prepared as we can be. I mean we've cleared brush, we don't work around our house to make sure that we're not contributing to any hazards and, yeah, that's all you can do I guess," said Sims.

Why you should care:

Applications for round 2 of flood relief are also still being accepted. 

The recovery fund for those who live in Travis and Williamson counties is being managed by the Central Texas Community Foundation. The deadline to submit an application is Jan. 31.