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Flash Flood Alley: Austin lies in the heart of Flash Flood Alley
It can be difficult to predict when flash floods will happen, but there are ways that meteorologists can predict them. Predicting flash floods ahead of time can help keep people safe and alert them about which areas they should avoid, if they need to go out.
AUSTIN, Texas - When it rains, it pours, and that's especially true in Texas. So when it floods, it is fast and destructive.
On Memorial Day in 1981, 13 people were killed when Shoal Creek flooded. Thirteen people were also killed on Memorial Day in 2015 when the Blanco River flooded in Wimberley. Shoal Creek also flooded on that day.
Another major flood happened along Onion Creek on Halloween 2013.
This is why the area is known as "flash flood alley." The Hill Country is especially vulnerable.
"You've got these really steep slopes. You've got all this gravelly terrain and you know, these little rivers at the bottom, but those come together, and they act like a funnel," meteorologist Adaleigh Rowe explains.
Droughts can make it worse. However, there are occasions when extreme drought conditions actually benefit the soil and plants and make it easier for them to absorb water.
Parts of the city are shown inundated after days of heavy rain on May 25, 2015 in Austin, Texas. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott toured the damage zone where one person is confirmed dead and at least 12 others missing in flooding along the Rio Blanco, which r …
It can be difficult to predict when flash floods will happen, but there are ways that meteorologists can predict them. Predicting flash floods ahead of time can help keep people safe and alert them about which areas they should avoid, if they need to go out.
"If you can see on future radar or some of the models that you've got the potential for really, really heavy downpours and storms that are called training storms," Adaleigh explains "So all that training means is that the same area is getting hit with heavy storms over and over and over within a day."
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