Homes, Lives And Livestock
Lost To Flooding In SE Texas

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas —(AP)— A day after surging water swept through her neighborhood, Ragena Case returned to her home Monday and found nothing.

Flood waters had ripped the house from its foundation and tossed the furniture aside like discarded toys.

Ms. Case picked through broken pieces of china that were a family heirloom and tried to salvage whatever personal items she could.

"All that's left are the slabs," said the 42 year-old, whose mother died in February. "I'm so grateful my mom's not here to see this. This house has been in the family for 25 years."

The rain continued in the Texas hill country Monday as residents surveyed the damage from a weekend deluge that left at least 15 people dead and three children missing.

The latest fatality was a 38 year-old woman whose car was swept away by flood waters in Montgomery County, north of Houston, early Monday.

Sixty counties, nearly a fourth of Texas, have experienced flooding, said Tom Millwee, state coordinator of the division of emergency management.

Gov. George W. Bush said the state will assess damage as soon as possible to apply for federal aid.

"Obviously, the worst loss is loss of life. We can't replace life. We can replace material goods," the governor told reporters in San Antonio. "Nature is devastating. It was only three months ago that we were praying for rain, and now ... we've got too much rain."

The continuing rain hampered searches for three children believed swept away by floodwaters and kept hundreds of people from their waterlogged homes.

National Guardsmen had hoped to search Comal County by helicopter for a missing six year-old boy, and Bush had scheduled a flyover to survey damage in San Antonio. Both flights were canceled because of severe weather.

The floods also threatened cattle. Thousands of animals were set loose when the rain-swollen San Marcos River washed away pens, barns and hundreds of miles of fencing.

Extension agent Lytle Arche estimated that up to 5000 cattle could be roaming Caldwell County alone. He estimated at least 10,000 more would wander from their pastures in neighboring Guadalupe and Gonzales counties.

The counties lie along the Guadalupe River, just east of flood-ravaged San Antonio and New Braunfels. The river is usually about 150 feet across. On Monday it was three miles wide in some areas and rising.

At Cuero, 66 miles southeast of New Braunfels, the swift-moving Guadalupe carried away entire homes Monday. The southern and eastern parts of the town of 7000 people were swamped.

"All my stuff is in there," said 24 year-old Marcus Perez, who surveyed flood waters covering his home. "All my clothes. All I have is just what I have on."

The Guadalupe sent 1400 people to shelters in New Braunfels. Although the water was subsiding on Monday, the hardest-hit neighborhoods remained off-limits, and city leaders issued an overnight curfew.

Those who could return to their homes, like 32 year-old David Oliver, found devastation.

"I'm glad my parents are still alive. They were trapped inside when the Guadalupe crested," Oliver said. Branches littered the lawn outside his parents' home, and there was a canoe stuck in a tree.

At Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort — the heart of the New Braunfels' tourist industry — raging river water wiped out two entire buildings.

"A lot of it looks awful," said spokeswoman Sherrie Brammall. "There's a lot of debris, picnic tables in the trees."

Thirty miles to the south, San Antonio recovered from up to 20 inches of rain over the weekend.

"This is unprecedented for the San Antonio area," said emergency management coordinator Joe Candelario. "This is a first in our history, to have that much rain in a 24-hour period."

At least six people were reported to have drowned in San Antonio over the weekend. Most were in cars that tried crossing flooded roadways.

An 11 year-old girl and seven -year-old boy were still missing after being washed away in Caldwell County. The vehicle they were in was believed to be in about 30 feet of water.