Believe it or not, August 2008 is now officially the wettest August on record for Central Texas, according to Andy Andersen, KCEN-TV chief meteorologist, with more than 10 inches falling since the first of the month.
What started as a big splat here and another splat there, both of which evaporated before leaving a mark on pavements, soon turned into a downpour, blurring drivers’ vision and pushing windshield wipers to maximum speed.
In Temple, more than 2 inches fell in a short period on Thursday afternoon, leading to wrecks on Interstate 35 and flooding across the area.
The soggy afternoon brought traffic to a halt on I-35 in both directions, even though wrecks only happened in the southbound lanes. Traffic in that lane backed up for more than three miles after two accidents on the same overpass near the 300 mile-marker. The original three-car wreck was followed shortly by a five-car wreck just about 300 feet from the original.
Temple police, Temple Fire and Rescue and Scott & White Memorial Hospital EMS units fought traffic to get to the injured.
A child suffering from abdominal pain was quickly assessed on the scene and rushed to Scott & White as a precaution, said Thomas Pechal, Temple Fire and Rescue public information officer. Others were transported a little later, none suffering from life-threatening injuries.
Although there were no accidents in the northbound lanes, rubberneckers caused traffic to back up as far as the 298 mile-marker. Traffic on the approach to exit 299 on both the highway and General Bruce Drive stopped a few times as drivers tried to decide how to get around the traffic ahead.
“The sooner they finish this work on the loop the better off we’ll all be,” David Wesson of Temple said. “The interstate is blocked, traffic is choking the feeder road and the loop is closed. There really is nowhere to go.”
Temple police responded to 12 accidents between 2:30 and 5 p.m.
There were some one-car accidents as well as the multiple car accidents, said Sgt. Allen Teston, Temple Police Department public information officer.
Loop 363 was closed in both directions under the 57th Street overpass when flooding in a dip on the road left two cars stranded. Motorists were able to get out of the cars without emergency assistance and the water eventually drained away. What was left was like a mudslide in the road. Teston said the Texas Department of Transporation was bringing in machinery to clear the mud off the road before it could be re-opened.
Teston said the accidents were probably caused by unsafe speeds and following too close.
“I was driving along and then I heard bang, bang, bang,” David Preiston of Austin said. “I didn’t know what happened, it all happened behind me, but when I looked in my mirror I could see the wreck.”
Preiston said he pulled over as soon as it was safe. “People are so stupid in this weather,” he said as he stood near Lone Star Drywall Services on the feeder road.
“Look at them driving past here and they aren’t even on the highway. There’ll be more accidents if they don’t slow down. It’s always slow along here because of the roadwork but when it’s raining they are just idiots. Everybody is in a hurry these days.” Preiston drives the highway between Austin and Waco daily.
A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect for east Bell County on Thursday afternoon; it was cancelled before 6 p.m., and by then the storm had moved into the Cameron area.
Scanner traffic said that winds up to 60 mph were felt in the south Temple area. The heavy rains caused localized flooding across the city, making it difficult to walk along sidewalks without being splashed by passing cars.
At 3 p.m. National Weather Service meteorologists detected heavy rain along I-35. It was those storms that unloaded the rain onto already saturated land.
The area between 57th Street and the loop and 57th Street and I-35 were some of the worse areas affected with water flowing down 57th like a mini-river. The parking lot in front of Cavender’s Boot City was under about 2 inches of water when the downpour turned into a shower.
Parts of 31st Street between the mall entrance and Market Place Shopping Center and back toward King’s Daughters Hospital flooded during the deluge, bringing traffic to a crawl.
Scanner traffic had emergency services wondering if areas of roadways in the area should be closed down until the water was given time to drain away.
Today will be a hot and steamy 93 degrees with a 20 percent chance of rain followed by a weekend in the mid-90s and rain chances increasing to 30 percent.
