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CNN Live Today

In Texas, 13 Counties Declared Federal Disaster Areas

Aired July 08, 2002 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour on CNN, new waves of concern are rolling southward across much of Texas, as flood waters stream their way toward the Gulf of Mexico. Thirteen counties have been declared federal disaster areas, and Texas Governor Rick Perry is seeking that designation and the accompanying aid for 17 other counties.

Heavy rains pounded the Abilene area over the weekend. National Guard troops, helicopters and rescue boats are dispatched to several counties. Let's get the latest on the damage assessment. CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us now. He has got the latest from the hard hit Texas town of New Braunfels.

Good morning, Ed. How is it looking there?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, it is starting to look better in terms of how the flood levels and the river levels are here in New Braunfels, which is between Austin and San Antonio. But as residents here come to their houses, they've got one eye looking to the sky and another eye looking at their homes. This is a -- we're along the Guadalupe River, which usually runs about 5 to 8 feet deep here, and the homes are along here. The residents who live here are starting to get an idea of what it looks like.

The home that we're standing next to, you can tell from the front, everything looks pretty good in terms of what you expect to find inside, but if you take a look at the backside of this house, you get a great idea of just how powerful these floodwaters are. This is a two-story house. About 24 hours ago, the water was reaching up to the top of the -- where the door is up there, about the second story of the house. This house took a pounding. There was so much debris moving downstream street at such a powerful rate of speed, that it was very hard for a lot of these homes to withstand some of the damage that it took and the pounding it has taken.

We saw several homes over the weekend just floating down the Guadalupe River, several homes breaking away from their foundation. About 200 homes here in New Braunfels area alone had been damaged by water and flood waters. We understand about 2,000 people today evacuate this area.

But overall, in the central Texas region, the Red Cross estimates that 48,000 people have been affected by this flood in one way or other. The governor of Texas has declared 30 counties in Texas disaster areas, and FEMA and other damage assessment teams are moving into the areas, starting to help people out as to what they might be able to do, and how long it'll take to be able to rebuild these homes. We talked to several people who are saying it will easily take several months, possibly as long as seven months, to rebuild most of those homes here. You see the aerial pictures of these areas that have been damaged by floods, a lot of water spilling out from lakes.

The Texas hill country spills a lot of water down this way. A lot of the system of rivers that exist in this area move down towards the Gulf of Mexico, and a lot of the situation is -- people who live downstream are the ones that are worried about just how much water will be coming that way. Because all of this stuff has to go somewhere, and that is toward the Gulf of Mexico. A lot of people still holding on.

There are reports of storms in the east of the central Texas region and in the Gulf of Mexico. So people keeping their eyes on that as well -- Leon.

HARRIS: Incredible pictures there. Ed Lavandera, reporting live for us from New Braunfels, Texas. All right, be safe out there, Ed.

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