Free Republic

Austin area under flash flood watch until 4 p.m. today By Dick Stanley and Sarah Coppola AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Friday, May 14, 2004 GRANGER -- When John Finan awoke Thursday in this small community northeast of Georgetown and swung his legs onto the floor of his apartment, his feet disappeared into about 12 inches of water. "It looked like we were in the middle of a river," Finan said. He was one of 18 people evacuated from their homes after 5 to 12 inches of morning rain fell from intense thunderstorms that swept through northeastern Williamson County eastward to just north...

<p>MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) - Volunteers stacked sandbags on levees Tuesday as the Skagit River rose toward an expected major flood crest following the second torrential rainstorm in the Pacific Northwest in less than a week.</p> <p>Flood warnings were posted along 11 rivers in western Washington. Record amounts of rain fell Monday on the region, where the ground already was saturated by a storm last Thursday blamed for one death, flooding, road washouts and mudslides. Two deaths were blamed on the earlier storm in neighboring British Columbia.</p>