Wet weather helping Texas towns rebound after years of drought

Months of wet weather have helped Texas climb out of one of the worst droughts it's ever seen.

As of Thursday the U.S. Drought Monitor no longer lists any part of the state in the extreme drought category.

The water weaving through the ravines in Llano is a reflection of how much has changed since drought sucked the life out of the land.

"This used to all be dirt and grass," said nine-year-old Morgan Aherns as he pointed at the river Thursday.

News of the rain-swollen river brought a flood of people to the water's edge.

"It's higher now than it's been in quite a while," said Executive Director of the Llano Chamber of Commerce Briley Mitchell.

It's been difficult for Llano to attract visitors since the drought hit in 2011.

"People just quit coming. From July to about October that year we didn't have anything," said Mitchell.

The townspeople hope that's about to change.

"We've had more people in looking at wildflowers than ever before with all the rain we've had," said Mitchell.

After all, the grass is always greener on the other side of a drought.

"Now we've rescinded all the mandatory water restrictions," said Llano Mayor Mike Reagor.

"So what's really cool is we're going to have people out in kayaks again and out enjoying it and fishing. We've had people out here fishing most of the day," said Mitchell.

It's becoming clear that the days when the most precious resource in Texas was vanishing into thin air could be just water over the dam.

"This is just really good. You can't get any better than this," said Mitchell about the water levels.

There is more rain on the way to Llano and city leaders expect the river to rise even more Friday.