Flood Flashback: City Wants Your Stories
It was 30 years ago that a downpour rushed the city, leaving 13 dead and millions in damages. The City of Austin is asking residents to share their story of that day at www.austinfloods.org. Photo courtesy of the City of Austin.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In this week’s segment of “Changing Austin,” The Memorial Day flood of 1981. An intense downpour caused flash flooding across the city. Thirteen people were killed. Austin reported millions in damages. Now the City of Austin wants to hear your story of that night and has created a website where you can upload stories and you follow the Twitter feed at #atxfloods.
KUT’s Emily Donahue spoke with Wendy Morgan with the City of Austin Watershed Protection Department about the city’s efforts to create a social meeting space to remember the event that changed the way Austin responds to emergencies.
“Floods will always be a risk for Austin no matter what we do,” Morgan said. “We can’t control the clouds and we can’t control the rain that falls, but the city has taken tremendous steps since that flood to protect people’s properties and especially their lives.”
To hear about some of the precautionary measures the city has implemented and to find out why the area is prone to flooding, click above for the full interview.
Podcast: Download (8.0MB)
