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Drought dampened by downpours; Rain floods some areas, helps others |
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By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition |
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July 11, 2002 -- "We've been praying for rain, and we got it," said Lenna Newnam of the Bandera County Extension office. The entire southern region of Texas had been experiencing drought, until the rains came. During the past week, Bandera County has received between 25 to 36 inches of rain. Bandera is one of 10 counties declared disaster areas by President Bush because of flooding. The areas suffering from flooding have seen damage to homes, businesses, as well as farms and ranches. During the July 6-7 weekend, President Bush declared the counties of Bandera, Bexar, Blanco, Comal, Gillespie, Hays, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, and Uvalde disaster areas. Gov. Rick Perry flew over the area during the weekend, and is said to be planning on asking for relief for a number of other counties in South Central Texas and the Hill Country. In other areas in the region, the rains came sporadically or in lesser amounts, which benefited crops and pastures. In Nueces County, Harvey Buehring, county Extension agent, said rainfall in that area had only been between 1 to 3 inches, with Padre Island receiving up to 4 inches of rain, last week. Dennis Hale, Karnes County Extension agent, said most agricultural producers, except for those growing river-bottom crops, are very happy with the rainfall in the area. He said although the county received between 10 to 15 inches of rain, it came in intervals of 2 to 3 inches at a time and allowed for the moisture to soak into the drought stricken land. This prevented a lot of runoff and helped fill area ponds. Hale said while the rains are too late for the corn and sorghum crops, the pastures and hay crops should benefit by the rain. He did say that he thought that the San Antonio River was flooding worse than during the '98 flood. "In Falls City in '98, the river crested at about 34 feet, and it was already up to 37 feet, this weekend," he said. As he said, producers who have river-bottom crops will have no harvest, due to flooding, and that Highways 181, 80 and 123 were closed. In Bandera County, Newnam said most of the damage was on the lower west end, around the Highway 173 river bridge. Shops in that area were flooded and as owners returned to see the damage on Sunday, July 7, many found complete destruction to the inside of their businesses, along with several feet of water and mud. In Jackson County, Marvin Lesikar, county Extension agent, said the rain received last week "had a very positive effect on all of agriculture throughout the county." According to Lesikar, most farmers would benefit by the moisture in their pastures and the hay crops would get a "needed boost." Also, some of the fields of grain sorghum that were planted late in May should benefit. On the downside, some fields of grain sorghum and corn were ruined by too much moisture in the soil and "heavy" plants. Lesikar said the Jackson County Weather Station measured 3.29 inches of rain for the past week, but some farmers reported up to 6 inches. Too much moisture can cause weathering in the head or sprouting in the grain sorghum seed. Cotton crops in the area will profit by the rainfall, as long as Copper Top or Bronze Wilt, diseases brought on by drought being followed by excess moisture, do not develop, said Lesikar. "Most rice fields in the area are entering, or are well into, the heading stage at this time. While major rice diseases such as 'sheath blight' and 'blast' have been very low, the moisture situation of this past week may increase the incidents of these diseases," he added. Dr. Travis Miller, Texas Cooperative Extension program leader for soil and crop sciences, said the rainfall over the past week is "providing welcomed relief to the state's agricultural producers." He said the rain has fallen in most of the drought-stricken regions, with between 8 to 12 inches falling across much of South Central Texas. "The crops that this rain is going to impact the most, I would say, are in the Rio Grande Valley, the irrigated crops like sugarcane and citrus .... In Central Texas, it's still in time to do some real benefit to the cotton crop," Miller said. As for the state's cattle producers, Miller said the rain should improve rangeland conditions and hay supplies that were "deteriorating at a rapid pace." He said that some ranchers have reported that they either did not get any hay cuttings or got only one, earlier this year, but the producers are happily looking toward excellent hay cuttings and rapid growth in the pastures. Reports on local television stations included a report from ABC affiliate KVUE-Channel 24 out of Austin which showed a video of cattle being cut off from the rest of the herd by raging water in the Gonzales area. One group of cattle belonged to rancher, retired baseball great, Nolan Ryan. Areas of South Central Texas are starting the clean-up process, with some people intent on rebuilding a second time from the flooding on the Guadalupe River, and others "throwing in the towel" after living through the flood of '98 and now this one. At press time Monday, July 8, all eyes are turned toward the Gulf and a low pressure system that is trying to develop. According to reports, if that should happen, the rainfall would began training through the same areas of South Central Texas by the end of the week. (The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been busy answering calls concerning disaster assistance. The funding can be used for disaster housing, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and grants. There are other programs to help individuals and businesses recover from the disaster. The FEMA number to call for assistance is (800) 621-3362 or TDD (800) 462-7585.) |
