Posted: Wed, 17 Oct 2018 08:08 AM - 57,064 Readers

By: Drew Knight, Kalyn Norwood, Shawna Reding, Chelsea Cunningham, Rebecca Flores

Officials have closed lakes Travis, Marble Falls, LBJ, Inks and Buchanan amid major flooding at the Llano River. Lake Travis is more than 120 percent full.

Lake Travis is now 126 percent full Wednesday morning while the Lower Colorado River Authority has closed lakes Travis, Marble Falls, LBJ, Inks and Buchanan.

LCRA closed the lakes Tuesday, and they'll remain closed until further notice. Flood operations at Mansfield and Tom Miller dams began at noon Tuesday. The LCRA said they began with the first floodgate at Mansfield Dam at noon, followed by the second gate at 2 p.m., the third gate at 4 p.m. and the fourth gate around 7 p.m.

By 10 p.m., flood operations at Buchanan Dam began Tuesday night. That means the LCRA has flood operations at every dam along the Highland Lakes.

Starcke and Wirtz dams opened up Monday evening. All 10 floodgates are currently open at each of these dams.

Meanwhile, Austin Water said officials are monitoring Longhorn Dam in East Austin. Four out of seven gates were open as of 7:20 p.m. They are also working with LCRA.

This comes as evacuations are underway in Llano County due to major flooding along the Llano River.

As of 6:41 p.m., Lake Travis water levels have increased by 18 feet since midnight.

The sheriff's office is asking Lake Travis patrons to beware of debris.

The Lower Colorado River Authority advised residents in the Lake Travis area to take caution as it opened floodgates at the Wirtz and Starcke dams Monday evening. Officials advised those nearby to take immediate action to protect people and property.

"Water will be moving fast through lakes LBJ, Marble Falls and the upper end of Lake Travis as the flood water is passed through the lakes," the LCRA said. "Lakes LBJ and Marble Falls are expected to remain within their normal operating ranges immediately upstream of the dams. Water will be higher than usual at the upper end of lakes LBJ, Marble Falls and Travis."

More information is available at 1-844-523-5663 or the Flood Operations Report on lcra.org.

Back in July, Lake Travis was seven feet below average, and it led to the closure of several boat ramps. Compare this to this early Monday evening with Lake Travis being 78 percent full.

This is largely because of the flood that happened in the Llano River last week, in addition to the Llano River flooding again on Monday. That water is now passing into Lake Travis.

*  Story Contributed by: Drew Knight, Kalyn Norwood, Shawna Reding, Chelsea Cunningham, Rebecca Flores