Heavy Rainfall causes flooding in Maverick County again

By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

Heavy rainfall in northern Maverick County such as in Normandy and Quemado as well as as in neighboring counties of Kinney and Val Verde ranging as high as 13 to 16 inches of rain during June 19-20, 2014 caused severe flooding to homes and the closure of several state and federal highways in Maverick County, Texas, including U.S. Highway 277 North at Elm Creek, Thompson Road (FM 1588), FM 131 (Bracketville Road), FM 481 (Old Uvalde Road), FM 1664 (Quemado), and others.

Just as Maverick County residents were finishing cleaning and rebuilding from last year’s disastrous June 14-15, 2013 flood caused by over 18 inches of rain within a 48 hour period, the June 19-20, 2014 flood was a repeat of last year’s flood causing severe flooding in Elm Creek Subdivision adjacent to Elm Creek, a direct water tributary of the Rio Grande River, Normandy, Texas, and Quemado, Texas in northern Maverick County.

Over 100 Maverick County families were evacuated by Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, City of Eagle Pass Fire Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, and U.S. Border Patrol officers during June 19-20th this year.  One of the hardest hit area was Elm Creek Subdivision which was totally inundated last year and residents were still rebuilding their homes causing new severe flooding damages to some of the newly reconstructed homes, forcing law enforcement officers to request Elm Creek Subdivision residents to evacuate due to the fast rising waters of Elm Creek.  Some Elm Creek Subdivision residents anxiously and nervously watched the rising waters of Elm Creek flood their newly reconstructed homes while others sighed a breath of relief as the rising waters reached the front doorsteps of their homes but did not completely flood their homes inside.

Once again, Elm Creek crested above its banks and quickly flooded low-lying areas and subdivisions as it jumped over U.S. Highway 277 North and Thompson Road (FM 1588) endangering subdivisions such as Hopedale, Kypuros Road, Thompson Road, and others.

Just as last year, the Rio Grande River crested above its banks at Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico at the U.S.-Mexico border causing the flooding of the City of Eagle Pass Shelby Park and Municipal Golf Course on the banks of the Rio Grande.

Another area sustaining severe flooding was the Normandy and Quemado areas of northern Maverick County with 13 to 16 inches of rain reported by local citizens and farmers.  The Canon Grande Creek and Quemado Creek crested above their banks onto U.S. Highway 277 North and several Farm to Market Roads, including FM 1664, causing the closure of U.S. Highway North between Elm Creek and Del Rio, Texas for several days.  Some Normandy and Quemado residents and homes sustained up to two feet of water inside their homes and some families had to be evacuated by law enforcement officers.

This year’s June 19-20th flooding focused more on Normandy, Quemado, Elm Creek, and Thompson Road rather than last year’s flooding which also affected City of Eagle Pass residents.  The heavy rainfall concentrated in the Normandy and Quemado area with 13 to 16 inches of rain during a 48 hour period as well as in the Spofford and Brackettville area in Kinney County which discharges all its water downstream into the Rio Grande River Basin and Elm Creek and eventually into the Rio Grande River upstream from both the Cities of Eagle Pass, Texas and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico municipal water treatment plants.

This year’s flood during June 19-20th caused employees working at the Maverick County Detention Center at the Radar Base on FM 131 to be stranded at their worksite as they could not return to their homes in Eagle Pass as U.S. Highway 277 North was closed at Elm Creek.  This phenomenon caused one Maverick County citizen to raise the question if transferring the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department to the Maverick County Detention Center at the Radar Base is a wise decision in light of the flooding problems and highway closures severing the county into north and south at Elm Creek and the inaccessibility of responding to emergencies in the event of a future flood.

Another Maverick County citizen raised the issue if the Maverick County Emergency Operations Center which was built on FM 131 adjacent to the Maverick County Detention Center at the Radar Base was perhaps built at the wrong place as a result of flooding at Elm Creek closing U.S. Highway 277 North.  In a local news media interview, Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber stated that local emergency responders had to switch operations of the Maverick County Emergency Operations Center from the Radar Base to the City of Eagle Pass Water Works System Office on North Veterans Boulevard in Eagle Pass due to the closure of U.S. 277 North at Elm Creek and the lack of accessibility to it due to the highway closure.

Another Maverick County citizen renewed his concerns that both last year’s and this year’s flooding demonstrates the problems with Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s open surface coal mine, Eagle Pass Mine, near Thompson Road (FM 1588) in northern Maverick County on the banks of Elm Creek with discharging its hazardous and toxic chemical coal mining water into Elm Creek and the Rio Grande River just a mile or so upstream from both Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras municipal water treatment plants.  According to the City of Eagle Pass, over 60% of the Dos Republicas Coal Partnership coal mine permitted area is in the FEMA Flood Plain which discharges into Elm Creek and the Rio Grande River, posing an environmental contamination threat of the sole source of potable water for over 60,000 Maverick County residents as well as over 150,000 Piedras Negras, Coahuila residents.

Maverick County Commissioners Court is holding a special meeting on Thursday, June 26th, at 5 P.M. at the Commissioners Courtroom, located at 500 Quarry Street in Eagle Pass, to discuss and take possible action declaring an emergency for Maverick County residents affected by the June 19-20th flooding and to apply for both state and federal assistance.

Mother Nature, once again, reminded Maverick County citizens the tremendous force of destruction it can heap upon human beings, livestock, property, and their homes as well as the unique and fragile geological location within the Rio Grande River Discharge Basin our community is situated in.

Meanwhile, Maverick County residents in Elm Creek, Thompson Road, Normandy, and Quemado are assessing the damages caused by the June 19-20th floods and planning on how to rebuild their flood-ravaged homes and properties.  It’s deja vu all over again, one year later.