June 3 2015

Page 1

SECTION A WEDNESDAY JUNE 3, 2015

VOLUME 105 ISSUE 1 www.UniversityStar.com

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Amid despair, hope prevails Hays County was devastated May 24 when historic flooding hit the area. The flood has claimed the lives of eight people in Hays County and three remain missing. Volunteers and those looking to help have come together to rebuild the City of San Marcos.

at least

744

homes have been damaged due to flooding for continuous flood coverage visit universitystar.com

PRESLIE COX MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

Piles of debris and cypress trees line the banks of the Blanco River May 25 after historic flooding in Wimberley.

San Marcos family loses everything in flood By Mariah Simank LIFESTYLE EDITOR @MariahSimank

O

ne San Marcos resident and his family watched helplessly May 24 as his childhood home filled with water. Carlos Cortez was awakened around 4 a.m. by the sound of water coming through the window of the master bedroom. “We have a one-story house and the windowsill sits about

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ENVIRONMENT

Flash flood expected to have little impact on endangered river species By Anna Herod ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR @annaleemurphy

Experts from the Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) and the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment expect the ecosystem of the San Marcos River to fully recover from the historic May 24 flash flood. The San Marcos River is home to several threatened and endangered species, including the Texas blind salamander, the San Marcos salamander, the fountain darter and Texas wild rice. Experts said the flood had a small impact on river wildlife.

There’s actually seeds that have been sitting there dormant that will start firing up again.” ­—BOB HALL, SENIOR POLICY COORDINATOR FOR THE EAA

“They’re very good at hunkering down and hiding. Some

See RIVER, Page 2

a foot and a half to two feet off the ground,” Carlos Cortez said. “The water sounded like a fountain as it came in through the bedroom window at a pretty good rate, which is what woke me up.” As Carlos Cortez began to wrap his head around what was happening, he realized he needed to quickly wake up his wife and three kids. “I looked down and realized my slippers were floating in about two to three inches of water, and I got out of bed

to kind of assess the situation and wake the kids and my wife up,” Carlos Cortez said. Kandi Cortez, Carlos Cortez’s wife, said she raced to call 911 after waking up and noticing the sheetrock in the house was moving in toward the family. “I called them and I asked them to please help us, and they told me they already had over 100 people to rescue and they would send someone as soon as possible,” Kandi Cortez said. “This was when the

water was at my stomach and it rapidly started to rise.” The water quickly went from being a small nuisance to a life-threatening situation, Carlos Cortez said. His 13-year-old son Daniel Cortez had already been woken up by the sound of water. He was making his way toward his parents’ bedroom when he witnessed the doors leading to the family’s backyard burst open under the pressure of the water. “After that moment, the

water was up to our chests in about two minutes,” Carlos Cortez said. “I started to grasp that I needed to get some stuff together, so I went around the house and grabbed a couple of things and put them up high in my closet.” That is when Carlos Cortez discovered his king-size bed was floating. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing at first,” Carlos Cortez said. “At this point the water was up to my chest and getting higher, and I stopped

to think, ‘Wait a minute, what am I doing? Why am I gathering things when I need to get us the heck out of here?’” As the family gathered to hang on to the doors leading to their backyard, Kandi Cortez said she struggled to keep their two dogs above water. “We were able to hold Amber because she is a small Chihuahua, but the Lab was panicking when I was trying to hold her and she eventu-

See CORTEZ, Page 2

CITY

Local resident reflects on past historic floods By Jon Wilcox SENIOR NEWS REPORTER @thrilcox

Over the years, the San Marcos community has established a tradition of cooperation and kindness in the face of catastrophic flooding. Disaster relief organizations and local volunteers are proving instrumental in helping victims of this year’s flood disaster. Kim Porterfield, San Marcos resident and former city council member, can recall a similar experience. In October of 1998, Porterfield was living with her husband and two children in a small, cinderblock rental house near the banks of the San Marcos River, she said. Porterfield said she knew the family would be taking a chance by living on the river. “Our kids learned to swim in the river,” Porterfield said. “We went to the river every day. We decided that would be a great place to raise the kids.” After days of rain that October, Porterfield and her neighbors noticed the San Marcos River had begun to swell over its banks. Porterfield was celebrating the fifth birthday of her eldest daughter, Carlie, at the time. “The river seemed to be getting closer and wider, and dumpsters started floating by,” Porterfield said. “We knew it was time to go.” Porterfield said she was in fight-or-flight mode. “I grabbed my camera bag, my glasses and Carlie’s fifthbirthday cake,” Porterfield said. “Go figure.” Porterfield then loaded her daughters into the pickup truck and joined the migration through flooded roads and neighborhoods to the more elevated west side of San Marcos. Like many residents on the eastern side of town, Porterfield and her family had to

cross over the San Marcos River to reach safety. The family was forced to abandon their second vehicle when it stalled near East Hopkins Street. “We were among the last to make it across (the East Hopkins Street bridge),” Porterfield said. “The evacuation part was very, very scary. I didn’t know if we were going to make it across the river.” As the family crossed the bridge, their remaining vehicle stalled, forcing her husband to push the truck across the flooding bridge amidst a storm of floating pumpkins, Porterfield said. The Heritage Association of San Marcos was raising funds with a pumpkin sale at East Hopkins Street and North CM Allen Parkway, Porterfield said. “It’s all very surreal now,” Porterfield said. “Pumpkins were smashing into the truck, smashing into (my husband).” Porterfield and her family eventually reached their destination—a friend’s house on higher, drier ground, where they celebrated by eating Carlie’s birthday cake. Michelle Harper, president and CEO for United Way of Hays County, said she was living in the dorms as a student at the then-called Southwest Texas State University-San Marcos during the 1998 floods. Harper wishes she had been more involved in postflood aid back then. “I wasn’t clued in,” Harper said. “I was like, ‘I’m stuck in my dorm, woe is me,’ and had no idea the residents (of San Marcos) were hurting. I would like to see more students clued in to help not only residents, but also college students who are now homeless.” In November 1998 and

See 1998 FLOOD, Page 2

—COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

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PRESLIE COX MULTIMEDIA EDITOR


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