Austin Texas has been and is still in a critical/extreme stage drought. This is the highest level of drought. Day before yesterday it started raining in the Austin area. We got about two inches the first day and five and a half inches yesterday.
Some people think that since it has rained that the drought is over. However they could not be more wrong. We are still in a drought, period. We are over 30 inches below average rainfall. Our lakes are all still critically low and all of the boat launches on Lake Travis have been closed for several weeks. Many people that have wells are discovering they are running dry. We are still in a very serious drought and it will take weeks or months of rain like this to get us back to normal water levels. So even though its raining we still need to conserve our water resources.
The flip side to the rain coming all at once is the fact that is causes flooding. The land is very dry and dusty and when the rain comes quickly it just runs over the parched land and does not soak into the ground. The massive amounts of water we are receiving can easily cause some Austin roads to flood or get washed out. So now people need to be very careful when driving. We have many low water crossings in the area. These low water crossings become very dangerous. It only takes 9 inches of water to wash away a car.
So if you come up to a low water crossing and see water over the road, turn around and don't drown. When these extreme weather occurrences happen it is safest to stay home. The roads can be dangerous and flash flooding may occur. Please drive safely and try to avoid low water crossings.
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