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CNN Sunday Morning

Texas Residents Watch Their Homes Float Downstream

Aired July 07, 2002 - 07:07   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, to the flooding in Texas. Forecasters have issued a flashflood watch for West Texas from Abilene to Brownwood and in Central and South Texas, some waterlogged residents are watching their belongings and even their homes float downstream.

CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're sitting there with anticipation thinking you know when it's going to go with all that force against it.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ron Hildebrand loves living on the edge of the Guadalupe River. The scenery is perfect, but this view he can live without. That's the rooftop of his house looking like a deserted island. Is it painful to watch this?

RON HILDEBRAND, FLOOD VICTIM: I don't think it's really hit yet. The shock of it will be when you walk in there and see the mess, watch it float away.

LAVANDERA: Oh, Lord. Floodwaters have swallowed up almost 300 homes in the New Braunfels area alone. It's not easy watching water crack your house in half. Several thousand people have evacuated. This scene is playing out along a roughly 80-mile stretch of the Guadalupe River.

MARYLEE MAXWELL, RESIDENT: I'm hoping God will answer some of my prayers because it's just -- they say he only gives you as much as you can handle. He's really testing me I guess.

LAVANDERA (on camera): On a normal day the Guadalupe River runs about five to eight feet deep in a ravine just beyond that tree line. Now the current here has been incredibly furious. We've seen all types of things float down the river including refrigerators, sheds and even a few homes.

(voice-over): Floodwaters have also overwhelmed the banks of the Medina River just west of San Antonio. Some inspectors saw cracks in a dam, but after a closer look there doesn't appear to be any chance of the concrete barrier collapsing. JOHN KING, ENGINEER: This dam has been cracked since it was constructed and it's not been a problem since. It's just a thing to monitor.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Ron Hildebrand can only sit and watch too. His house has put up a strong fight against the current. It's been battered by debris floating downstream and the house still hasn't crumbled.

HILDEBRAND: My neighbor's house crashed into it about an hour ago and I thought it would have taken it with it, but it didn't.

LAVANDERA: The worst flooding appears to be over. Now the Guadalupe River is a source of amazement. Parents bring their children to the water's edge so they can learn a lesson about nature's power.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, New Braunfels, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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