The Bottom Dropped Out - Sun., Nov. 3 continued

Literally, I can't get this picture out of my head. The bottom of Jim and Peri's 5th wheel was hanging down, apparently after being totally saturated from the flood. Unbelievable. You can also see some of the sticks and twigs that got caught under the slide-out.

The underbelly of Jim & Peri's 5th wheel.

You can see through the sagging underbelly to daylight on the other side.

On our way from New Braunfels to San Marcos we stopped and picked up Subway sandwiches for lunch and took them out to the RV park. We sat at a picnic table for lunch, then started clearing out the rest of their possessions. They had cleaned out a lot of it over the previous day or two. Most everything in their "basement" was a loss. Bob helped Jim take out the washer and the two of them made a couple of trips to the storage unit they rented in San Marcos.

The water went into their 5th wheel, probably through the slides and door, saturated the carpet, and ruined all their cameras which were in a bottom cupboard. Thankfully they had time to grab the dogs and their computers before the water rose too high. The water did not go up high enough to damage anything in the bedroom or in cupboards above the floor.

The story at the RV park was that the water started coming into the park from the river about 5:30 a.m., but no one knocked on their door until 7:30 a.m. If someone had driven through the park at 5:30 a.m. and honked horns people would have had time to drive their vehicles to safety and save their things. By the time someone knocked on their door, the car they had parked in front of the 5th wheel had water up to the seat and they could not move it out of the way. Luckily they were able to save their truck!

The 5th wheel and car were totaled by the insurance company. Peri's car had already been towed away. They wanted to make sure all their belongings were out of the 5th wheel before the insurance company had the 5th wheel towed out as well.

While we were there, a tow truck came in to take another 5th wheel out.

Someone else's 5th wheel being towed out.

RVs closer to the river floated a short distance out of their sites; one even went over the bank, but it had already been towed out. Here are some pics of damage in the RV park.

The following trailer was knocked off it's supports and had floated against a tree. The tree stopped it from floating away.

Trailer wedged against tree next to its site.

The following trailer floated out of its spot, but landed with its supports still under it. You can see it is sitting on the grass and not in a site.

Same trailer as above, different angle.

Peri said the water flowed faster than that.

Letting the electrical boxes dry out.

I took the following photo so you can see all the mud that was graded off the road. Look at the middle left side of the photo. If you click to enlarge the pic you can also see the water line on the 5th wheel.

Miscellaneous debris.

Trailer knocked off supports.

The river is down in the bottom of this. You can see how the
trees are bent over from the force of the flood water.

Peri said the flood water was up to the top of the gazebo pictured below. They think the water was a total of 30-40' deep at the height of the flood. The water in the river crested over the bank, then it went to the top of the gazebo, which is at the top of the bank. That's a lot of water!

Flotsam and  jetsam stuck on the gazebo.

One thing Peri and Jim stressed to us is to make sure your insurance has enough coverage for personal belongings. Be sure you check your insurance policy to see how much coverage and how much deductible you have. They are going to up the insurance on their personal belongings after this incident.

You can see the water line, and mud caking everything.

Their kitchen floor was covered in water and mud.

While Peri and Jim were on their summer travels they had brand new decals put on the 5th wheel in Arizona and brand new axles and two new tires put on in California. Plus Jim had just finished building a new cabinet/ table combination for their dining room. What a shame to have this happen.

Soon they will be shopping for a replacement RV and car. We hope you find exactly what you're looking for and that you won't have to do a lot of work on it...ever.

Let us know if there's anything else we can do...like help you move back into a new RV.

Oh, there were a couple of other photos that may pique your interest.

The car below floated to its current location from somewhere else. It is sitting at the side of the road leading into the RV park. You can see the water line on the car.

After we left their RV park, we drove along a side road to see where the river had crossed the road. There was al locked gate blocking the road down to the river crossing. Here's why...

Debris on the bridge blocked the road.

Good night all you cats.

Travel Bug out.