10 July 10 - 16, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents the state has several of each year. When asked if he believed meteorologists within the NWS should be reinstated in light of the flood, President Donald Trump said no, calling the flood a “once-in-a-100- year” event. The Central Texas Hill Country, wrapping the Guadalupe River, has a well- cataloged history with fatal flash floods, but never to this magnitude. The president approved a major declara- tion of disaster on July 6 and is expected to touch ground in Kerr County by the end of the week. “President Trump stands strong with Texas in our time of need, and I thank him for swiftly approving Texas’ disaster decla- ration request,” Abbott said. “This federal support will ensure local officials, emer- gency management personnel, and first re- sponders have the critical resources they need to help Texans rebuild and recover from these devastating floods.” Has This Ever Happened In Dallas? The topographical changes are significant in the 200 or so miles between North Texas and Central Texas. As you move to the cen- ter, rolling hills stretch to soft peaks, and glimmering lines of water, making up the ar- ea’s lakes and rivers, snake between them. The Texas Hill Country is a parallel universe compared to the flatness of the Blackland Prairie that Dallas lies within. Steep slopes and arid, nonabsorbent soil direct runoff from heavy rain straight into the more abundant waterways of the Hill Country, creating what is known as Flash Flood Alley. But Dallas is nestled into the southernmost region of Tornado Alley, and during peak cyclone season, when rain falls the hardest and fastest, the area can see flooding. But flooding in Dallas is rarely fatal. The most recent fatal flood was in June when a man was stranded in his vehicle on Park-Cen- tral under a highway bridge in the middle of a large flood. Flood casualties are rare even though the Trinity River runs directly through the city. But that wasn’t always the case. The Trinity used to flood often, and sometimes disastrously. The worst flood in Dallas’ history oc- curred in 1908 after 15 inches of rain fell in a short span. The Trinity crested at 52.6 feet, which remains the record, and a width of 2 miles. As many as 11 people are estimated to have died, while 4,000 were left homeless, and the city was dealt $65 million in damages in today’s dollars. For three days, Dallasites were without power, telephone and rail service. Oak Cliff, where the damage was worst, could only be reached by boat. “Scattered rags of clothing are hanging upon broken wire fences,” wrote an un- named journalist at the time, according to the Oak Cliff Advocate. “Clocks, furniture of all sorts, children’s toys and all manner of home effects are lying in the mud. Over- turned outhouses, shattered stables and ca- reening buildings are on every hand, some washed into an unfamiliar lodging place. Further out into the river are more roofs, generally twisted out of alignment or slop- ing crazily toward the retiring water.” Will It Ever Happen Again In Dallas? The devastation of the 1908 flood was so widespread that the city government reas- sessed its planning. In 1911, George Dealey, publisher of The Dallas Morning News, in- vited George Kessler, the land architect be- hind Fair Park, to replan the city, introducing a levee system to prevent future floods. The city disliked the Kessler Plan, and World War I created significant delays. Then in 1918, the Morning News brought Kessler back to the city to revise his plan. With larger levees, it was approved, and by the early ‘30s, two levees were built on the east and west sides of the Trinity. The project was a massive undertaking and received considerable federal support, but the city has maintained and monitored it since 1968. The Dallas Floodway Project, which in- cludes the combined 22.6 miles of the East and West Levees designed by Kessler, mod- ified river channels and pumps, protects the city from catastrophic flooding to this day. A third levee, the Rochester Levee, was added in the ‘90s after another smaller Trinity River flood destroyed 200 homes in Oak Cliff. Unfair Park from p8 Eric Vryn/Getty Images Unlike Dallas, Kerrville lies in a region that experiences regular flooding. SCAN HERE TO ENTER TO WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS
