Posted: Fri, 11 May 2012 02:55 PM - 14,229 Readers

By: Jessica Vess

The overnight rain that moved through Central Texas has area creeks flowing swiftly.
At Shoal Creek in North Austin small rapids are moving over rocks. Further south, where the creek runs past Lamar Boulevard at 9th Street, the water continues to rush. It’s a similar site along Waller Creek in Downtown Austin.
 
It all eventually spilled out into Lady Bird Lake. Debris piled up outside openings. Booms laid out already helped to capture the trash before it flowed into the main body. Where Shoal Creek flows into Lady Bird Lake a line of twigs and debris litters the hike and bike trail. The water washed it up overnight. Joggers Friday morning had to maneuver around the puddles and trash.
 
According to the Lower Colorado River Authority, rain fell fast over the waterways.

• Bull Creek at Loop 360 saw nearly 2.4 inches of rain in the past 24 hours.
• Onion Creek at Buda got more than 3.2 inches.
• Barton Creek at Oak Hill got about 2.3 inches
• Walnut Creek at Webberville Road got nearly 2.6inches.

The LCRA a says it’s slowly filling the lakes, but there’s still a long way to go.
 
“January, February, March were great for the lake. We picked up a lot of water. Then [in] April [it] just turned dry again. [It was] pretty worrisome. We never quite broke 50 percent full and with the rains that we got out of this storm, it looks like we’ll be riding just under half full maybe. If we’re lucky [we’ll] break the 50 percent mark,” explained river authority manager David Walker.
 
In all Walker says Lake Travis went up about three quarters of a foot during Thursday’s storm. By the time all the water flows down from the creeks Walker says it will ultimately gain about a foot or two.
 
The agency says some of the rivers they monitor did rise above their banks, but none reached flood levels.

*  Story Contributed by: Jessica Vess