It's difficult to know what to say about what has occurred here in Central Texas over the last week.
For reasons that I cannot sort, we tend to get weather events on holidays. You'll hear about Memorial Day floods, Halloween floods, etc.. This one happened on July 4th, 2025. It is by far the most devastating flood in this area of which I am aware, and it's going to haunt this area for decades to come.
For years, the areas west of Austin have been starved for rain. The ongoing drought has been of tremendous concern both west of Austin and locally and is a regular topic during weather reports (for more on Austin weather,
I recommend KXAN). This area is booming with unregulated growth by developers who will be long gone when we're out of water, so it's an issue. The climate here is essentially scrub-desert. Our native trees grow wide and knotty, and cactus and mesquite fight for space where soil is found between limestone outcrops. Much of Central Texas and the Hill Country sit atop a thin layer of soil, which - in turn- rests on top of rock, which forms the lovely rolling hills you see in West Austin and beyond (thus the name of the area). From
the Balcones Escarpment, the hills extend for miles and miles before you hit the flat lands of West Texas - just prior to the mountains.
