TEXAS FLOODS

October 21, 1998

Phil Ponce has an update on the Texas floods.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Twenty-two people have died in the Texas floods since Saturday, and five more are missing, including a seven-year-old boy. Phil Ponce has the story. PHIL PONCE: In Victoria, Texas, the Guadalupe River has swollen from its usual 150 feet to six miles wide. Today, the river is beginning to recede. Hundreds of people in this town of 60,000 have abandoned their homes to seek higher ground. In Victoria and elsewhere in Texas this week National Guardsmen plucked residents from their homes, rescuing them from the surging rivers. REPORTER: Where were you? What happened? LARRY CRISP: Well, I stayed at my house last night. The water just kept coming up, and I got up to the top of it, and they picked me up. PHIL PONCE: Sixty counties in Central and Southern Texas -- ¼ of the state - have been flooded with nearly two feet of rain since last Saturday. In Wharton, Texas, this morning, officials urged residents to evacuate as the rising Colorado River threatened the low-lying town. But many people decided to stay put. Across the state, as many as 10,000 people have been forced from their homes and about 1500 are in shelters. Some of the worst flooding is in the city of Cuero, where three quarters of the town is underwater. There, the Guadalupe River has crested at 50 feet, 20 feet above its normal level. Entire homes have been swept downstream, leaving vast expanses of water where communities used to be. New Braunfels, a suburb of San Antonio, was one of the first communities hit. Waters there rose 25 feet in just two hours. Steve Crosby's home there was washed completely away. STEVE CROSBY: This is where my house was, right here. PHIL PONCE: Sandy Eichman and her family lost everything when the river sent their mobile home crashing into nearby trees. SANDY EICHMAN: My eight-year-old son, he broke down crying. He says, "Mama, why did God do this to us? Why did he take everything from us?" And how do you tell an eight-year-old kid - I don't understand? PHIL PONCE: Mud coats the interiors of homes that are still standing, and many people are salvaging whatever they can. WOMAN: These are the only clothes I have. All my clothes are gone out of my master closet. PHIL PONCE: In farming and ranching communities an estimated 15,000 cattle have been swept away or are roaming free because fences have been washed away. Some have no brands to identify them. Texas officials estimate the damage could reach $400 million. REPORTER: So your appliances were uprooted? WOMAN: Yes. PHIL PONCE: Yesterday, bad weather grounded Texas Governor George W. Bush's plans for an aerial survey of the flood's damage. Instead, he stayed on the ground and called on President Clinton to declare part of Texas a disaster area. GOV.GEORGE W. BUSH, (R) Texas: I'm confident that the White House will respond very quickly. Money is on the way. PHIL PONCE: And that response came today. JOE LOCKHART, White House Spokesman: The President has just declared a major disaster exists in the state of Texas due to the - there will be - he has ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms, flooding, and tornadoes, beginning October 17th. PHIL PONCE: A drizzling rain fell across much of Texas today, and forecasters predicted more showers this weekend. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Still to come on the NewsHour tonight, a budget update, Indians go whaling, and the leader of Nigeria.