Maybe, Just Maybe, the Rain Will End

Good News! Both Laura Skirde of KXAN and Rusty Garret of KWTX agree - the rain will end next week! Finally!

Last year, everyone was complaining about the drought and the damage it was causing to crops and livestock. We were hurting, also. Major wildfires were a real threat.

What a difference a year makes! This year, the complaint is flooding. Again, crops are being destroyed and, not so much livestock, but people are suffering. Fifteen people, so far, have drowned due to very severe flooding. High-water rescues make the news almost daily. In nearby Gatesville, the heavy rain caused the roof on a historic building to collapse.
These photos are from the KWTX web site and show where the roof and second floow collapsed into the first floor.

This building is right on Main Street, just a block east of the Court House. This is also US Highway 84, THE major road through town. As you can imagine, this is causing a traffic nightmare. Looking at the mess, I believe both the building on the east and on the west will also have to come down.

Many, if not most, of the buildings in these "historic" rural Texas towns have suffered with years of substandard maintenance - the owners just did not and do not have the money to keep up with the repairs. The Court House squares are no longer the center of local commerce. This has moved to the strip malls and the "big box stores", such a Wal*Mart, that are located on the outskirts of these towns. The drought years have caused the caulking to dry out so when the rains began, the gently sloping flat roofs leaked.