Heavy rains cause flooding in Gonzales County, closing schools

Gonzales County was inundated with heavy rain that produced localized flooding for a period of more than 24 hours Tuesday, Jan. 23 through Wednesday, Jan. 24, causing schools to shut down and roadways to close.

As many as 3,500 GVEC customers were without electricity in their service area outside Gonzales city limits between 9 p.m. Tuesday and 2 a.m. Wednesday. By 10 a.m., that amount had dwindled to just 127 customers still affected out of a total served of 108,400. The majority of those were actually in the Yorktown area. There were no outages reported inside the Gonzales city limits.

Areas of Gonzales County received as much as eight to 10 inches of rain in a 24-hour period beginning Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon, exceeding initial expectations, as the National Weather Service out of Austin and San Antonio issued a flash flood warning through noon Wednesday for Gonzales County, Fayette County, northwestern Lavaca County, southeastern Lee County, southeastern Caldwell County and southeastern Bastrop County.

The flash flood warning expired, but a flood warning remained in place until 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Areas expected to see flash flooding included Gonzales, Nixon, Waelder, Smiley and Palmetto State Park in Gonzales County as well as Moulton and Shiner in Lavaca County and Flatonia in Fayette County.

Road closures reported by the Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office included Farm-to-Market 532 between Gonzales and Moulton in both directions, FM Road 795 (off FM 532), FM 1115 near Waelder, County Road 344 at County Road 228, FM 1680 at Peach Creek, FM 1116 south of Gonzales and County Road 108 South.

Flooding was also reported in the 1300 block of County Road 397, County Road 283 at I-10, Old 90 at County Road 283, County Road 102 at FM 466 and the 600 block of County Road 228 North. Road conditions can be monitored at drivetexas.org.

A motorist on Farm-to-Market Road 1680 at County Road 405 north of Moulton in nearby Lavaca County had to be rescued from a vehicle overcome by flood waters early Wednesday morning. Crews from Lavaca County EMS, Waelder VFD, Moulton VFD, Moulton police and Lavaca County Sheriff’s deputies were able to get the victim to safety, but had to abandon the vehicle until waters receded.

Later Wednesday, Nixon and Smiley fire departments put out a call for assistance to Gonzales Fire and Rescue for help gaining access to a victim who had been swept off of the roadway due to the flood waters. A water rescue boat was deployed to retrieve the victim from his 18-wheeler and to return him to safety.

All three school districts in Gonzales County — Gonzales ISD, Nixon-Smiley CISD and Waelder ISD — announced school would not be held Wednesday, Jan. 24, out of concern about flooded roads and students and staff getting to school safely. All academic and athletic events and practices were also canceled. Victoria College in Gonzales also canceled classes on Wednesday, while the Gonzales Chamber of Commerce also stayed closed.

Gonzales County officials were warned by County Judge Pat Davis to “handle their office as they see fit,” noting that employees would have problems getting to work due to road closures, and told them to call him if they had any questions.