Area rivers, creeks running high after recent heavy rains Posted On: Friday, Oct. 23 2009 05:13 AM By Jackie Stone
Killeen Daily Herald

Water levels in rivers and creeks in Bell, Coryell and Lampasas counties spiked Thursday after heavy rains hit the area Wednesday night.

Coryell County was under a flood warning Thursday for the Leon River near Gatesville and for Cowhouse Creek near Pidcoke. It was expected to last until late evening.

The Leon River near Gatesville was in flood stage at more than 25 feet deep Thursday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service Web site.

The site states that at 25 feet, the river can cause flooding at some low-water crossings. If water levels reach 28 feet, flooding could occur near the highway bridge.

Parts of Brown Park in Gatesville were closed due to flooding, as well as some low-water crossings within the city. The only city road that remained closed at 4 p.m. was Leon Street where it crosses the Leon River, Gatesville police said.

Downstream near Belton, the Leon River was not under any warning and peaked at 4.42 feet Thursday morning.

The Lampasas River was also running high, peaking at around 16.5 feet near Kempner in the early morning hours. That area of the river is not considered in flood stage until it reaches 18 feet.

Judi Pierce, spokeswoman for the Brazos River Authority, said even if levels are below flood stage where the measurements are taken, other parts of the river could overflow their banks due to specific geography.

The city of Lampasas closed some roads at low-water crossings, but all were open by mid-afternoon Thursday.

A man became stranded at a low-water crossing in Temple and was retrieved by Temple firefighters early Thursday afternoon.

Downstream of Belton Lake, the Little River was also running high and hadn't peaked by mid-afternoon.

Because there has been so much rain recently in Central Texas, a downpour will cause a quick rise and fall in the watershed, Pierce said.

"After having so much rain for a long period of time, the ground gets absolutely saturated and there's no place for it to go. And when you get a very hard, heavy rain for a short amount of time, you get these big spikes in the creeks and rivers that also go down very quickly," she said.

Pierce warned that high waters can still be dangerous even if they are brief, but said the rain was a positive thing.

"At least from our point of view, any water is good, especially since we're still coming out of a drought situation," she said.

Contact Jackie Stone at jstone@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7474.