Bryan Buse’s parents’ house of 25 years in Wimberley was completely washed away on Friday. Two days later on Memorial Day, he watched his neighborhood near Lamar Boulevard and 15h Street go underwater.
"It was kind of like, ‘Wow, here we are again, like the exact same situation,’" Buse said.
Monday, heavy rain created a new danger--an over-flowing Shoal Creek quickly turned one of Central Austin's busiest streets, Lamar Boulevard, into a fast-flowing river.
"Once people started hitting this water, the tires would catch and they would float backwards, they were trying to come back up the ramp or back down Lamar southbound so we started directing people up this hill," Buse said.
Three drivers ditched their cars on the median, two of them made it to safety with the help of others, but one man was swept away and had to be rescued by authorities. A little further down Lamar, local businesses did their best to cope with flooded stores.
Mary Jones' husband is a co-owner of Whole Earth Provision. She says though it's flooded in the past, this one hit hard.
"I know they were in there before it got so bad trying to get merchandise up and before they have been successful at moving merchandise up, but I think it happened so fast," Jones said. "Fortunately nobody was hurt. It's stuff. We'll bounce back."
The flooding created a hazmat situation at a nearby auto shop with more than 100 gallons of oil and others fluids spilling into the roadway and creek. Austin firefighters worked quickly to contain the spill.
In all, there were more than 20 water rescues in the area on Monday.