New Round Of Texas Flooding Strands Amtrak Train; Roads Closed, Campers Evacuated

Saturday, July 21st 2007, 5:54 pm

By: News On 6

KNIPPA, Texas (AP) _ Storms dumped more than a foot of rain on parts of Texas on Saturday, stranding an Amtrak train and forcing rescue crews elsewhere to pull at least 50 people to safety, some by helicopter from rooftops.

Authorities said it would be at least 12 hours before the train near Knippa, about 75 miles west of San Antonio, could move again. The Uvalde County Sheriff's Department did not immediately know how many passengers were aboard.

No serious injuries were reported in the state's latest round of flooding, which closed many roads and forced evacuations.

In southern Guadalupe County overnight, a possible tornado damaged four businesses and at least one house, said Sheriff's Department Cpl. John Batey.

Parts of northern Uvalde and Medina counties got as much as 17 inches of rain between 10 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, said Pat McDonald, a National Weather Service forecaster.

Seco Creek overflowed, inundating the town of D'Hanis near San Antonio, said Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown. Many businesses were flooded with 3 to 4 feet of water.

Boats, fire trucks and helicopters rescued stranded residents, but only one minor injury was reported, Brown said. A shelter was opened in nearby Hondo, but Brown said he didn't know how many residents would stay there.

``The water is going down. Things are getting better,'' Brown said.

In Bexar County, which contains San Antonio, rescuers had responded to more than two dozen calls for high-water rescue by Saturday afternoon, officials said. Campgrounds along the Medina River in Bandera County were being evacuated.

In San Antonio, there were 20 to 30 road closures, said Orlando Hernandez, county emergency management coordinator.

``Other than a couple of days, we've had rain for the last three to four weeks,'' he said. ``The ground is saturated. Any rain we get is resulting in flooding.''