Travis County official recounts widespread water rescues and relief hub after severe flooding

A Travis County agency official described multiple water rescues after heavy flooding that left roadways under water and visibility near zero. “I mean, literally it was 3 or 4 miles an hour was about as fast as you could drive,” the official said, adding that windshields could not clear the rain and that sections near Treviso and Nameless Road and US 1431 were “completely covered with water.”

The official said their team became isolated between two water crossings and had to decide how to get out. They said their mobile data computer kept showing "new call waiting" as water‑rescue calls arrived from different addresses. “These were all water rescues that were coming in at different addresses,” the speaker said, and they described a multiagency response that included the local ESD, independent school districts (ISDs), Austin Fire, Austin-Travis County EMS and the sheriff’s department.

Describing conditions for rescuers, the official said there was “a lot of water. It's deep. There's water where there shouldn't be water, there's cloud cover, there's no moonlight. They can't see. There's zero ambient light.” The speaker recounted a lieutenant who entered a home, broke a window and cut his hand while getting an entire family out to safety.

Speaking about the aftermath, the official said they walked door to door in Sandy Creek and encountered residents who were "visibly shook," and noted damage to homes, fences, cars and natural areas. The official said they reached out to local medical partners named in the transcript as ATB, Ascension, Integral Care and UFC; each, the speaker said, sent mobile units to the area.

The county declared Round Mountain Baptist Church "ground zero," the official said, and set up county offices in the church parking lot while tents, first aid volunteers, FEMA and the Workforce Commission arrived to support response efforts. “There was just so many resources for the community,” the speaker said, calling the response “a heavy time, but it was also a beautiful time, a spirit of community.”

The official closed by stressing the county’s continuing role: "Travis County is committed to not only helping people continue their recovery and rebuilding, but to be resilient going forward. This was a period of great loss and and trauma. And we have we were there then and we're still here."