Local judge and family get flooded out in Wimberley
Submitted by jcht2010 on
When most people think of water, they think of cool, tranquil relaxation on a hot day. For Jackson County Judge Dennis Simons and his wife Kay, that was not the case Memorial Day weekend.
Judge Simons and his family own property on the Blanco River in Wimberley. The couple, their daughter and her family and some family friends were staying at the home, paying close attention to the weather, but feeling somewhat confident that as far up as the home was, they’d be ok.
“The house was way up on a bluff,” said Kay, “Water had never gotten to it.”
With a sense of security, everyone in the house went to bed, keeping one ear open, just in case.
“We had looked several times to see where the river was,” said Judge Simons, “and it was still a long way down there. When we went to bed, about the time we got to sleep, the electricity went off and that kind of startles you because everything all of a sudden gets really quiet.”
Having some trouble getting back to sleep, Simons said he heard an unfamiliar banging.
“We had these little dog kennels,” said Kay, “and they were floating and just banging on the side of the house.”
Simons noticed his kayak floating away, thinking that was the extent of the loss. He woke up Kay, but only to show her the water, because they’d never seen anything like that. His mind was changed when he realized that by the time she got up to look, the water had risen another two feet.
“There was a storage building that’ still another two feet below the level of the house,” he said, “and I could see it starting to float. That’s when we got everybody up and they threw things together. We had to throw clothes on.”
By the time Kay grabbed her purse, the water in the house was up to their knees, and the family realized they needed to move quickly to escape.
Judge Simons used furniture that was already floating to wedge the door open so they could all escape. After struggling against the rushing water, everybody got out of the house, and everyone in the neighborhood had taken to high ground at a nearby ranch.
“Everybody was in their cars, looking over where all the houses were down there, and you could hear just loud cracking, popping sounds,” said Judge Simons, “I knew what it was. It was trees and houses that were being washed off the slabs, trees breaking. It was a terrible sound.”
When the water receded, almost as quickly as it rose, all that was left was destruction.
“There was about six feet of water in the house,” said the judge, “When you walk in, you’re just shocked.”
Among the destruction was a dresser that had floated from the bedroom, down the hall and into the living room, and more furniture piled against the downstream wall. In stark contrast, the roses Kay had placed on the table were still upright in their vase, where the water had gently set the table back on the ground.
In all of this, the Simons family is grateful to be alive and uninjured.
“We can rebuild. You can fix a house. You can’t replace grandchildren,” said Kay, “There are still people missing. We’re very blessed and we’re thankful. That’s the bottom line of everything.”
Rate this article:
- Log in to post comments
