The sleepy little town of Wimberley is about 20 minutes from us. Nikki lived there in a little house down by the river when we first met and our youngest son went to school there for a couple of years. Although we don’t live there, it’s a place very close to our hearts so this weekend’s terrible flood really feels like it has hit home. I’ve not been into the town yet and will likely stay away until emergency crews have finished their work but the video footage I’ve seen is pretty terrible – whole sections of riverfront completely destroyed, houses lifted off their foundations and carried downriver. It’s hard to believe that the normally-placid Blanco River could possibly turn into the raging torrent that rose 40 feet in a couple of hours and swept away a sizeable portion of the town.
If you want to help, locals are pointing people towards two organisation that are able to help immediately. Barnabas Connections and Austin Disaster Relief Network are already deployed and helping those affected offering shelter and coordinating volunteer clean-up crews.
For the technically inclined...