1998 — Aug 21-24, Tropical Storm Charley, SW and Central TX, esp. Del Rio, TX –16-19
International
–20 National Weather Ser., Miami, FL. “Monthly Tropical Weather Summary.” 12-1-1998.[1]
— 9 Mexico. Brownsville Herald, TX. “Floods claim 16 victims.” 8-25-1998, p. 10.[2]
— 3 Mexico. Roth, David (NWS, NOAA). Texas Hurricane History: Late 20th Century. 1998.
Texas (16-19)
— 19 HurricaneCity.com. “Tropical Storm Charley.” (as of Sep 7, 1998)
— 16 Brownsville Herald, TX. “Floods claim 16 victims [“in Del Rio area”].” 8-25-1998, p. 1.
— 15 Blanchard tally from County breakouts below.
— 13 Brazos River Authority. History. “Timeline of the Brazos River Basin.”
— 13 Rappaport, Ed. Preliminary Report: Tropical Storm Charley, 21-24 August 1998. 1998.[3]
— 12 Roth, David (NWS, NOAA). Texas Hurricane History. 1-17-2010 update, p. 65.
— 12 Roth, David (NWS, NOAA). Texas Hurricane History: Late 20th Century. 1998.
By Texas County:
— 1 Galveston Co., Galveston, Flagship Hotel, Sep 22 (Aug 21 injury). Drowning; male 31.[4]
— 4 Real County, Hwy. 41, Aug 23. Pickup swept away by rising water. (Rappaport, 1998.)[5]
–1 Female, 20. NCDC. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood. Texas. Real. 8-23-1998.
–1 Female, 16. NCDC. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood. Texas. Real. 8-23-1998.
–1 Female, 3. NCDC. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood. Texas. Real. 8-23-1998.
–1 Male, 2. NCDC. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood. Texas. Real. 8-23-1998.
— 1 Uvalde County, Garner State Park, Aug 23. Heart attack while being evacuated, male, 65.[6]
-~9 Val Verde Co., Del Rio. Daily News, Galveston County, TX. “Del Rio…” 9-9-1998, A2.
— 9 Val Verde County, Del Rio, San Felipe Creek, Aug 23 [into 24th]. (Rappaport, 1998.)
— 1 Freshwater drowning; female, 52, mobile home. NCDC. Storm Events Database.
— 1 Freshwater drowning; female, 56, permanent home. NCDC. Storm Events Database.
— 1 Freshwater drowning; female, 67, permanent home. NCDC. Storm Events Database.
— 1 Freshwater drowning; female, 77, permanent home. NCDC. Storm Events Database.
— 1 Freshwater drowning; male, 37, mobile home. NCDC. Storm Events Database.[7]
— 1 Freshwater drowning; male, 71, permanent home. NCDC. Storm Events Database.[8]
— 1 Freshwater drowning; male, 72, permanent home. NCDC. Storm Events Database.
— 1 Freshwater drowning; male, 74, permanent home. NCDC. Storm Events Database.[9]
— 1 Freshwater drowning; male, 74, permanent home. NCDC. Storm Events Database.
Cause of Death:
Direct: (10)
–1 Galveston Co., Galveston, Flagship Hotel, Sep 22 from Aug 21 injury. Drowning; male 31.
–1 Val Verde County, Del Rio, Aug 23-24. Freshwater drowning, mobile home.; female, 52.
–1 Val Verde County, Del Rio, Aug 23-24. Freshwater drowning, permanent home; female, 56.
–1 Val Verde County, Del Rio, Aug 23-24. Freshwater drowning, permanent home; female, 67.
–1 Val Verde County, Del Rio, Aug 23-24. Freshwater drowning,, permanent home, female, 77.
–1 Val Verde County, Del Rio, Aug 23-24. Freshwater drowning, mobile home; male, 37.
–1 Val Verde County, Del Rio, Aug 23-24. Freshwater drowning, permanent home; male, 71.
–1 Val Verde County, Del Rio, Aug 23-24. Freshwater drowning, permanent home; male, 72.
–1 Val Verde County, Del Rio, Aug 23-24. Freshwater drowning, permanent home; male, 74.
–1 Val Verde County, Del Rio, Aug 23-24. Freshwater drowning, permanent home; male, 74.
Indirect: ( 5)
Health-related:
— 1 Uvalde County, Garner State Park, Aug 23. Heart attack while being evacuated, male, 65.
Vehicular:
— 1 Real County, Texas Highway 41, 8-23-1998. Pickup driven into flood water; female, 20.
— 1 Real County, Texas Highway 41, 8-23-1998. Pickup driven into flood water; female, 16.
— 1 Real County, Texas Highway 41, 8-23-1998. Pickup driven into flood water; female, 3.
— 1 Real County, Texas Highway 41, 8-23-1998. Pickup driven into flood water; male, 2.
Not Noted: (1-4)
Narrative Information
Brazos River Authority: “Tropical Storm Charley affected the Lower Brazos River watershed. Most of the flooding occurred in the Rio Grande River basin causing 13 deaths and $50 million in damages.” (Brazos River Authority. History. “Timeline of the Brazos River Basin.”)
Hurricane City: “Corpus Christi, Texas: Hit the morning of August 22nd with 60mph winds. Very heavy rain has caused flooding in Bee, Refugio & Brazoria counties as nearly 12 inches of rain have fallen so far. Several tornadoes have been spotted but no reports of damage as of yet. (more info will be provided as it becomes available) As of 8/24: Del Rio Texas is getting nailed by heavy rainfall from the remnants of tropical storm Charley. Up to 17″ of rain have fallen so far. As of 9/7: Death toll now 19 and some still missing, flooding has damaged nearly 1,000 Del Rio homes & businesses. In Laredo 30 homes damaged by a surge of water.”
(HurricaneCity.com. “Tropical Storm Charley.”)
NCDC, Real County: “By nightfall on the evening of Saturday, August 22nd, the remains of Charley had stalled over southern Uvalde and northern Zavala Counties. Heavy rainfall from the previous week had left soils in the two counties saturated. Through the night and into the early morning hours of Sunday, August 23rd, heavy rainfall in bands continued over mainly these two counties. Thunderstorms in the bands were producing rainfall rates approaching five inches per hour. A total of between 6 and 8 inches was reported between the towns of Uvalde, Batesville and Leakey. A devastating flood wave developed along the Frio, Dry Frio, Sabinal and Nueces Rivers and moved over camps, recreational areas and residential sections of Uvalde, Real and Zavala Counties. Four lives were lost where a small creek crosses Highway 41 about four miles west of the highway 83 intersection in the extreme northeast corner of Real County near 7:30 am CST. This was at the divide between the South Fork of the Llano, the Frio, and the Guadalupe River drainages. Most likely the incident occurred in the South Fork of the Llano River drainage. Eleven citizens of Mexico were traveling in a 3/4 ton pickup truck as it drove into the flooded roadway. All occupants were thrown into the river, and all but four were rescued by volunteer firemen from Hunt, Mountain Home, and Kerrville.” (NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Event Details. Flash Flood… Texas…Real [county]…8-23-1998.)
NCDC, Del Rio and Val Verde County: “By nightfall on the 23rd, the central low pressure associated with the remainder of Charley had indeed stalled near Del Rio. A second siege of devastating rain fell between 9 pm and 2 am, producing over 10 inches by midnight. The intense rain was again in a “feeder band”, oriented north to south over Del Rio and extending up the Devils River to above Bakers Crossing, eventually drifting slowly eastward to the Sycamore and Pinto Creek drainages. Heavy rain began falling in Del Rio at 9 pm, and produced 10 inches of rain by midnight. In all, nearly 18 inches of rain fell between 8 am Sunday morning and 6 am Monday morning. This is approximately the annual rainfall for Del Rio.
“Explosive flash flooding redeveloped in the city, washing away homes and vehicles near 11:30 pm that evening. San Felipe Creek again rose out of banks, this time rising to several feet deep in homes in a very few minutes. The flood was so rapid that people were cut off in sections of the flood plain and escaped to the roofs of their homes. The Creek, several hundred yards wide in places, moved downstream like a freight train, destroying and pulverizing anything in its path.
“Rescues were desperate as neighborhood citizens, the Sheriffs Department, Police Department, Fire Department, Border Patrol agents, DPS, and several law enforcement personnel mobilized rapidly. Dozens of residential blocks of homes were left unrecognizable by the flood wave. Whole blocks of residential areas were left as empty lots, with the asphalt of their streets completely gone, and covered in debris. The scene was comparable to an F4 or F5 tornado. The County Sheriff reported that he and several Border Patrol agents formed a human chain at one point to try to reach a family stranded on the roof of a home in the creek. As they entered the fast flow, the turbulence broke apart their chain, sweeping all of them downstream. Somehow they all survived. In another case, a Sheriff’s deputy lifted a paraplegic lady on his shoulder and waded out of chest high water with her. The powerful, turbulent flow knocked her husband from his feet, and the deputy, with a woman over his shoulder, still was able to reach out and grasp the husband, rescuing him. The fact that only nine drowned in the devastating flood in a testimony to the excellent rescue work by the aforementioned. Six persons remain unaccounted for.
“Another area of widespread residential flooding was in the extreme northern part of Del Rio. Poor drainage in a very subtle draw flooded over 10 square blocks of homes up to three to four feet. As the flow moved downstream a mile or two below Highway 90, it swept some mobile homes from their pads.” (NCDC. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood. Texas. Val Verde. 8/23-24/1998.)
Roth, 1998: “A large cluster of thunderstorms, also known as an MCS (mesoscale convective complex) formed just off the Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana coasts on August 15th. This system drifted southeast into the Central Gulf of Mexico by the 19th, with scattered thunderstorms developing each day. On the 20th, an upper level low moved westward to the west of this disturbance, producing a less hostile upper level environment. By the 21st, advisories were initiated by the National Hurricane Center on Tropical Depression Number 3….
“This system became Tropical Storm Charley soon after [August 21], moving northwest towards the Texas coast. The upper level low that initiated rapid development moved it more to the north than originally thought. Also, all the deep convection remained on the north side of the circulation center, keeping Charley from becoming a hurricane. It made landfall just after midnight on…[August 22], in the vicinity of Rockport, with sustained winds of 60 mph. The gulf invaded North Padre Island, where seawater reached the dunes. Immediate shoreline roads were closed.
“Gusts to tropical storm force were felt across Southwest Louisiana and across the northern 2/3 of the Texas coast. The Port O’Connor Coast Guard reported gusts to 63 mph while the Colorado River Locks in Matagorda County measured gusts to 69 mph. The pressure fell to 29.55 inches at Rockport at 559 a.m. on the 22nd.
“As the system moved inland and weakened, rains fell across southern Texas. An observer at the mouth of the San Bernard River in Brazoria County reported 9 inches of rain. Three miles southwest of Refugio, 7.3″ of rain fell. The heaviest rain on the 22nd fell over Southeast Bee and Southwest Refugio County. Amounts up to 11″ were observed. This led to significant flash flooding. Highway 77 near Woodsboro was closed for 36 hours due to one and a half feet of water on the roadway. Homes in the Mission River Oaks subdivision in Woodsboro were flooded. The town of Three Rivers saw water flood cars in the area.
“On the night of the 23rd/24th, the dying tropical depression caused another round of heavy rainfall, this time near Del Rio. A total of 11.83″ fell at Del Rio on the 24th, simultaneously breaking the all-time daily and August monthly rainfall records. This August is the wettest month ever at that site. Over 18″ of rain fell in all. Two-thirds of the city went underwater. Four people were reported to be drowned in the flood waters in Real County. So far, 12 lives have been lost in this epic flood in Texas and 3 in Mexico; numerous people are still unaccounted for. Many livestock were lost near Quemado in Maverick County. The Rio Grande is expected to rise to the base of the International Bridge in Laredo and over the International Bridge at Eagle Pass.” (Roth, NOAA, 1998)
Sources
Associated Press. “Five dead in Hill Country flooding.” Paris News, TX, 8-24-1998, 3B. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=112963640&sterm=tropical
Associated Press. “Parched South Texas hit by deluge.” Kerrville Daily Times, TX, 8-25-1998, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=115406256&sterm
Brazos River Authority. History. “Timeline of the Brazos River Basin.” Website accessed at: http://www.brazos.org/brazosHistory.asp
Brownsville Herald, TX. “Floods claim 16 victims.” 8-25-1998, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=185523928&sterm=tropical+storm
Daily News, Galveston County, TX. “Del Rio buses students back to public schools.” 9-9-1998, A2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=110105289&sterm
Daily News (Steve Mayo), Galveston County, TX. “Isle man dies after month on life-support.” 9-24-1998, A11. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=112924560&sterm
Del Rio News-Herald (Fidel Garcia), TX. “Seventh body found.” 8-28-1998, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=111889094&sterm=tropical+storm
HurricaneCity.com. “Tropical Storm Charley.” Accessed 4-8-2014 at: http://www.hurricanecity.com/dam/dam1998.htm
Locategrave.org. “Grave Record for David Paul Pyatte – Del Rio, Texas (1960 – 1998).” Accessed 4-8-2014 at: http://www.locategrave.org/l/6254158/David-Paul-Pyatte-TX
Locategrave.org. “Grave Record for Octaviano Hernandez – Del Rio, Texas (1926-1998).” Accessed 4-8-2014 at: http://www.locategrave.org/l/6367443/Octaviano-Hernandez-TX
National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Event Details. Flash Flood… Texas…Real [county]…8-23-1998. Accessed 4-8-2014 at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5666578
National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Event Details. Flash Flood… Texas…Val Verde (county)…8/23-24/1998. Accessed 4-8-2014 at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5666648
National Weather Service (Avila/Guiney/Lawrence/Mayfield/Pasch/Rappaport). “Monthly Tropical Weather Summary for the North Atlantic…Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico… Summary of the 1998 Atlantic Hurricane Season…” Miami, FL. 12-1-1998. Accessed 4-8-2014: http://web.archive.org/web/19981205054250/http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ftp/pub/forecasts/discussion/MIATWSAT
Rappaport, Edward N. Preliminary Report. Tropical Storm Charley, 21-24 August 1998. Miami: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, NOAA, Dept. of Commerce, 10-23-1998. Accessed 4-8-2014 at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1998charley.html
Roth, David (National Weather Service). Texas Hurricane History. Camp Springs, MD: NWS. 1-17-2010 update. Accessed at http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/research/txhur.pdf
Roth, David. Texas Hurricane History: Late 20th Century. National Weather Service, Weather Service Forecast Office, Lake Charles, LA, NOAA, 1998. June 23, 2003 modification. Accessed at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/research/txlate20hur.php
San Angelo Standard-Times. “Funerals and Death Notices…Candelario Paredes Jr.,” 9-1-1998. Accessed 4-8-2014 at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/tomgreen/obits/1998/090198.txt
[1] No breakout by country for the fatalities is provided and it is not clear if this includes Mexican fatalities or not.
[2] “The Mexican news agency Notimex reported nine people died in neighboring Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, after they were washed away while trying to cross a normally dry gully holding a rope.”
[3] Notes “All were apparently flood victims located well inland.” Also notes 6 people unaccounted for.
[4] “Galveston – Family members of the island’s 12th drowning victim this year were making funeral arrangements… for Michael Van Antwerp….Van Antwerp was pronounced dead Tuesday morning [Sep 22] after spending a month on life support…physicians told the family that [he]…was brain dead….Van Antwerp, 31 fell from the fishing pier at the Flagship Hotel on Aug. 21 during Tropical Storm Charley. Lifeguards pulled him ashore about four blocks away.” (Daily News (Steve Mayo), Galveston Co., TX. “Isle man dies after month on life-support.” 9-24-1998, A11)
[5] Newspaper report writes that “The accident occurred at 7:30 a.m. The pickup carrying 18 people was eastbound on the highway as four feet of water covered the road at a low-water crossing, according to the DPS. The truck’s driver stopped and unloaded seven people, then tried to travel through the water, but the vehicle was immediately forced off the road, the DPS said.” (AP. “Five dead in Hill Country flooding.” Paris News, TX, 8-24-1998, 3B.)
[6] AP. “Five dead in Hill Country flooding.” Paris News, TX, 8-24-1998, 3B. Notes evacuation was being carried out amid rising water.
[7] Reference to Border Patrol trainee David Pyatte, “who died while searching for his family,” according to Border Patrol spokeswoman. (AP. “Parched South Texas hit by deluge.” Kerrville Daily Times, TX, 8-25-1998, p. 1.) See, also: Locategrave.org. “Grave Record for David Paul Pyatte – Del Rio, Texas (1960 – 1998).”
[8] Octaviano Hernandez. (Del Rio News-Herald (Garcia), TX. “Seventh body found.” 8-28-1998, 1.) Also: Locategrave.org. “Grave Record for Octaviano Hernandez – Del Rio, Texas (1926-1998).”
[9] One of the 74-year-old male victims was Candelario Paredes, “an amputee who lived at the 200 block of Jones Street.” (Del Rio News-Herald (Fidel Garcia), TX. “Seventh body found.” 8-28-1998, p. 1.) See obituary at: San Angelo Standard-Times. “Funerals and Death Notices…Candelario Paredes Jr.,” 9-1-1998.