Fascinating! Eyeopening! I never knew! Who would have guessed?! Where do I get a journalism degree for such insight?! Thank-You Chronicle! Floods taking toll on tourism Business owners lament bad timing By JOHN W. GONZALEZ Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle NEW BRAUNFELS -- That wasn't just muddy water rushing past Rockin' R River Rides on the banks of the Guadalupe River on Monday. That was the tube rental business's 2002 profits going down the drain amid all the Hill Country floodwater. "It couldn't have come at a worse time," said co-owner Zero Rivers, who operates six tubing concessions in New Braunfels. "You work up until July 1 to pay all the bills, and then in July and August, you start making your profits." New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce President Michael Meek said the weeklong downpour that produced flooding in a 30-county area of South and Central Texas was a "worst-case scenario" for the city's $200 million-a-year tourism industry. "The overwhelming majority of that $200 million takes place in the summertime, so this was one of those events you hope never happens -- on a major holiday weekend," Meek said. Yet, despite the temporary shutdown of river-oriented businesses and extensive residential property damage, surprisingly few riverside businesses suffered significant property damage during the flood, Meek said. Schlitterbahn water park was unscathed, as was the quaint historic Gruene area, which sits on high ground overlooking the river and outfitters like the Rockin' R, Meek said. "The only businesses affected during the actual flood event were the two or three outfitters down below the cliff," Meek said. "The historic district of Gruene never did close. They had bands playing in Gruene Hall all through the Fourth of July weekend," he said. Parts of Schlitterbahn were reopened on Monday after a weekend closure for cleanup, but the entire water park will be open daily beginning Thursday. A detailed report on business damage is in the works. The chamber was asked by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday to assess commercial damage, as it did after a similar large flood in 1998. In that flood, more than 100 businesses were impacted because of high water along the Comal River, which is lined with tubing concessions and campgrounds. This time, with relatively minor flooding on the Comal, "if there are more than 10 businesses impacted, I'd be surprised," Meek said. For Rivers, it was no huge surprise that the river would cause problems last week. Several days of heavy rains northwest of here gradually filled Canyon Lake, which was so full on Monday that several feet of water were still cascading over the spillway, sending the excess flow on its long, wiggly route to the Gulf of Mexico. Cuero and Victoria were monitoring the flow, but no major problems were predicted. A few weeks ago, Rivers and other outfitters were concerned that a lack of water would stymie their businesses. "It was going to be a really good year. We were really, really nervous about the water because we needed it. It started raining and we were up. It kept raining and we were down. It was pretty rough on the emotions," he said. If the four-day Fourth of July weekend had been a normal one, Rivers said he probably would have put 10,000 tubers in the water at his six locations on the city's two rivers. Now he and the other outfitters are keeping an eye on the dropping river levels, eager for the chance to clean debris from the waterways. "New Braunfels isn't closed. It just temporarily took a hit. We don't know when we'll be back up, but we can get up pretty fast if we can get the river cleaned," Rivers said. Businesses farther removed from the river shared in flooding woes last week, but motels and stores generally kept operating, although with curtailed hours. Krause's Cafe stayed open as usual because it always does during floods. "The tradition with this restaurant is to stay open," said manager Andrew Correll, a recent transplant from the Houston area who was living through his first New Braunfels flood. "We were one of the only restaurants open in town. It stayed open for the community. This is a place where people are going to come and talk about everything," Correll said. As communities such as Seguin, Comfort, Bandera, Castroville and Falls City continued cleanup, Gov. Rick Perry urged flood victims to promptly register for federal disaster assistance. Visiting a San Antonio home that was flooded a week ago, Perry said damages could approach $1 billion. "This is a major, major blow to the state of Texas," Perry said. Eleven more counties were declared federal disaster areas Monday, bringing to 24 the number of counties where residents can apply for low-interest loans and other federal aid. Perry had requested the declaration for an additional 17 counties. Like the property losses, the death toll from the floods also climbed. It was at nine Monday after the body of an unidentified man was discovered in Bexar County. The body was found near the area where officials were searching for Chris Lewis, 32, of Boerne, who had been swept into a flooded creek. Losses to the agricultural community haven't been gauged, but Texas Department of Agriculture spokesman Allen Spelce predicted they won't be horrific because there was enough advance warning to allow farmers and ranchers to move valuable equipment and herds out of harm's way.
Actually the article is informative. We were just down in Texas at Schlitterbahn a few weeks ago. I was very interested in how the floods affected the park and the associated area. From national news reports, you don't get the specifics. This article informed me that the park was not hit too hard, nor were many other businesses. It certainly gave me information that I was interested in.
