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Sunday, February 23, 1997

Texans keep watchful eye of lakes after recent rains

By The Associated Press

Texans kept a watchful eye on lakes Saturday after recent heavy rains sent waters rising, some spilling into lakefront homes.

The wet weather has been blamed for seven deaths in the Lone Star State, the most recent being two fisherman who were killed after their boat was apparently swamped by the storms.

The bodies of Morris "Rex" Cole and the Rev. Wayne Pemberton were discovered Friday in Lake Buchanan. They failed to return home from their fishing trip and were apparently caught in Thursday storms that turned the Llano River into a torrent and pushed Lake Travis into the flood plain.

Earlier in the week, three Texans were killed in traffic accidents, one was struck by lightning and a toddler drowned when his mother's car was swept off a highway.

On Lake Travis, residents in the flood plain had carted belongings and moved trailer homes away from water that had risen several feet in recent days. The lake is expected to rise an additional foot by Sunday night, said Wes Birdwell, hydrology manager for the Lower Colorado River Authority.

Watercraft were banned from Lake Travis, Lake LBJ and Marble Falls Lake Saturday after the Llano River, swollen by up to 6 inches of rain upstream, swept tons of debris into the lakes.

In North Texas, approximately 20 houses in Hood County were evacuated Friday night after they received water, some up to 3 feet, said Assistant Granbury Fire Chief Mike Cullum.

"At this time, the water remains in some of the homes in the low-lying areas. However, the water is receding at this point and we don't expect it to come up any more than what it has already," Cullum said Saturday.

Few residents were leaving the threatened areas. An evacuation center that had been set up at a Granbury middle school was without takers Friday night.

Problems were partially due to runoff, but fire officials were also concerned about large water releases Thursday and Friday from Possum Kingdom Lake.

In San Angelo, where residents gathered almost daily less than a year ago to pray for rain, Twin Buttes Reservoir had too much water.

Officials were releasing water from Twin Buttes into Lake Nasworthy and out Nasworthy into the South Concho River.

City officials opened Lake Nasworthy floodgates Friday and began releasing almost 9,000 acre-feet of water, the equivalent of almost 3 billion gallons of water from Twin Buttes. That amount represents almost half the water the city uses annually.

Public Works Director Will Wilde said it will take three or four days to drain Twin Buttes to a level that meets the restrictions set by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The bureau will not let Twin Buttes hold more than 70,000 acre-feet of water while the dam is being repaired. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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