A Flood of Memories

Putting it all together, I must say my memories of this have to date back to Friday, May 12, 1972.  I would have been 8.8 years old, only ten weeks and four days away from my ninth birthday. School was set to end on June 15^th, according to records. What were we doing? As it was a Friday night, we might have been up late watching a horror movie.

What I do remember is Mom opening the front door to an urgent knock. Outside it was raining heavily, the sheets of water lit up by emergency lights. An official in rain gear informed us that flooding was imminent and that we needed to evacuate. Was Pop even home yet? I can’t remember. John confirms that he was, because he remembers Pop's stern efforts to get his sleepy and befuddled self going. All I do remember was getting hastily dressed and maybe grabbing some spare clothes; there was no time for anything else. Although the house stood up fairly high, the river was only a lot or two away.

We fled to Uncle Monroe and Aunt Melva’s house, taking a dark, shuddering glance down at the river as we passed over the bridge. Their house was in town, only a little way from the high school, and presumably on safe ground. We bunked down on the living room floor and tried to get some sleep, nerves jangling. We had the radio on all night long to keep up with weather bulletins or emergency instructions. In a sort of grim humor, they played “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” again and again. We went to sleep that night not knowing if we’d ever see our home or our things again. It was all rather apocalyptic.

But we did go home the next day, the crisis passed. We were happy to see the place undamaged, but it was also a little eerie. I know I was edgy for some time to come. I remember (in my usual ‘closing the barn door’ way) packing up a cardboard box of things to take if we had to evacuate again. It was more of a coping mechanism than anything practical, almost therapy. The only thing that I can remember packing at this late date was our old Omi squeak toy.

Well, it was a while before things settled back down to routine. Subsequent tornado warnings in the area did not help. I recall how we boys gave ourselves the willies thinking about the unrecovered bodies still lost there in the waters. John remembers that a girl in his class said a body was removed from a tree near her house. When we went fishing down by the dam there was debris washed up on the shores, and we wondered with grue if we might find a skull or something. It added another terror to the murky depths for me.

Wow. Fifty-three years ago. Susan wasn’t even born. There have been several other floods since then; we seem to have ‘hundred year’ weather events every three years or so these days. But such an ‘adventure’ at such a young age certainly left its impression on me. Here are a bunch of facts about the Flood of 1972 that I have been able to gather from various sources.

“Heavy rain began falling in Comal County around 8 pm on May 11, 1972. At midnight, 16+ plus inches poured upon the Guadalupe River midway between New Braunfels and the Canyon Lake Dam. The first flood waters rushed into New Braunfels from Blieders Creek and flowed into the Comal River at Landa Park. The flood waters filled the Comal and overflowed into the Guadalupe River, where they roared towards Seguin.

Rain fell hard and fast all day long, causing the Guadalupe River to breach its banks and pour into the nearby cities of New Braunfels, Seguin, and San Marcos.”

“Heavy rains began in Comal County on May 11, 1972, and intensified, leading to a significant flood on May 12. The flood caused widespread damage, including the destruction of homes and infrastructure, with at least 17 people losing their lives and 3,000 people being evacuated. Calls to evacuate beginning shortly after midnight Friday, May 12, held loss of life in Guadalupe County to one. At Starcke Park, the Guadalupe River crested at 32.5 feet, just six inches shy of the record setting 1952 flood, shortly after 8 a.m.  Rainfall in the area from May 5-12 was in excess of 12 inches.
    And the problems didn't end with the flooding as tornadoes reportedly touched down in already ravaged Parkview Estates and Glen Cove.

    Police Captain Leroy Schneider said the city was "lucky" because the residents could be given 30 minutes to two hours notice that the water was coming.
    "We prepared when we heard there was a heavy downpour beyond Canyon Dam," the police captain explained.
    The county is apparently on an "every 20 years" flood timetable as the Guadalupe has flooded in 1932, 1952, and again on May 12, 1972.”

    "Other hard hit areas were Treasure Island, all homes along Lake McQueeney and Lake Placid waterfronts. The National Guard was mobilized at 1 a.m. Friday and remained on duty to control swarms of sightseers in the flood-stricken areas as well as to deter looters.”

--AI, Seguin TX.Gov, Seguin Enterprise May 18, 1972