Yuk! New Braunfels got soaked the other night! Storms hit us early Wednesday morning and kept much of the town awake all night. The lightening was so constant and the thunder so loud it was like a freight train going through my home. And it kept coming. And coming. And coming. Some parts of our town -- including my home -- got up to 12 inches of rain in just a few hours time. When the sun finally came up on my dreary sleep-deprived eyes, what I saw was water water everywhere. Landa Park -- one of my favorite portrait shooting locations -- was under water. Much of Gruene was under water. The road to my home was under water. In fact, pretty much most of New Braunfels was under water.
People love to camp out along the river and most of them were caught totally by surprise by the storm. A lot of people were swept away in their tents and campers and one person was even killed. I'm grateful yet surprised that the death toll wasn't any higher. There were a lot of people camping out that night -- it's the beginning of the tourist season.
Once our roadway dried out a little, I ventured out with my camera to see some of the damage. I stuck to high ground and didn't take any chances -- I had my kids with me of course -- and this photo is what we saw near I-35. We watched for a few minutes as picnic tables, inner tubes, lifeguard stands, fences, building materials and coolers drifted by below us. It was heartbreaking to see household appliances and personal possessions floating along, lost forever to the people who's homes got swept away. We also saw a lost baby deer frantic, wet, and scared hopping along near the water's edge, separated from its mother -- could she have been swept away by the water, or just lost in the confusion of the storm?
It's been three days now and the water has receded in most places. What's left is lots and lots of mud. But we'll recover as a town. New Braunfels has had to deal with this before and they'll deal with it again.
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