CRYSTAL CITY, Texas – Floodwaters that people in Crystal City say rose to higher levels Friday than they’ve ever seen before had some of them on edge.
According to the Zavala County Sheriff’s Office, an unknown number of people evacuated their homes on the southern end of the city Friday morning due to flooding.
Some of them took refuge at two different emergency shelters that were set up for them.
Meanwhile, others, including Alessandra Marquez Garza’s parents, stayed put, determined to ride out whatever was coming their way.
“My mom is kind of calm about it. My dad is like, ‘No, it’s going to pass. It’s not going to affect us,’” Marquez Garza said. “My sisters and I, we’re afraid that (the water) is going to reach.”
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She said she and her relatives spent the better part of Friday morning trying to convince her parents to take shelter at one of their homes.
Unable to convince them right away, relatives instead turned to saving valuables by moving them to the second floor of the home.
“Different quinceañeras that we’ve had. My grandparents’ anniversary photos, pictures,” said Benito Flores, while sorting through family photos. “Decades of love and happiness that, you know, you can’t get back.”
The home and surrounding property on Musquiz Road, which includes El Campestre Event Center, has been in the family for generations.
Marquez Garza said this is the first time it has faced the potential for this type of flooding.
“In past years it’s kind of gone just all around, back through the neighborhood. ... But it’s never gone inside the house,” she said. “We’re hoping it’s not going in the house.”
While her family hoped the water would keep its distance from then, others in town appeared to be attracted to it.
A steady stream of people flooded into the area throughout the day to take photos of the floodwaters.
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