On May 24, the Blanco River at Wimberley swelled from a comparatively modest five feet at 9pm Saturday to a staggering 41 feet by 1am Sunday. That wave of water devastated everything in its path, knocking out homes indiscriminately and savaging the cypress trees along its banks. Twelve people were killed.
A National Weather Service report from 1972 highlights just how long the region – and the country at large – has been unprepared for a disaster of this magnitude. Forty-three years ago flash floods swept through the Texas Hill Country, ravaging New Braunfels and the surrounding areas to the tune of $20 million – over $100 million in today's money. Eighteen people were killed. Then, as in May, warning systems, by radio or TV news, went in many cases unheard. From the report: "Only a few home owners took out [flood insurance] policies; as one citizen said, 'We have not had a flood since 1952 and with the new dam, I did not think it would flood again.'"
"Our response in recovery is usually: How do we get you back to the way you were as fast as we can? And when one of these disasters happens, we need to pause and we need to stop and we need to say: How do we help you recover as fast as you can, but should we recover you back to exactly where and how you were? And we haven't been asking that question." Carol Haddock of the Planning and Development Services Division of the city of Houston told The Austin Chronicle.