Since the July flood disaster, Travis County has been coordinating relief efforts at Round Mountain Baptist Church. But as the summer nears its end, relief may be running out for flood survivors seeking financial assistance. The county may soon consider raising property taxes one time to assist with that relief, which some residents impacted by the floods would be exempt from.
During its Tuesday meeting, county commissioners heard from the county’s Transportation and Natural Resources Department (TNR) on the work that has been done so far and what they should expect in the near future. TNR crews are installing low water crossing signage at Cow and Sandy creek, where the July flooding impacted Travis County. The county has purchased a temporary bridge that will arrive this week and be able to carry traffic across Sandy Creek. Meanwhile, Cottonwood Trail should be completely repaired by Sept. 1, TNR’s Cynthia McDonald said.
Many of the sites that require repair assistance are on private property that the county must obtain permission to access. For example, Sunset Ranch has given permission to put a temporary 70-foot steel bridge across the low water crossing “that will provide us the ability to move traffic, all kinds of vehicles, heavy equipment, passenger, everything, across that roadway,” explained the County Executive for emergency services Chuck Brotherton, “in the event we have another disastrous rain event that compromises the low water crossing while the Big Sandy Bridge is also under repair.”
The county has so far removed around 107,000 yards of debris from the right-of-way and private property around Sandy Creek. However, there is some jurisdictional confusion regarding debris collection: Some of that private property on the bank of the water extends into the water, like a dock that has come loose where Sandy Creek flows into Lake Travis. The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), which controls Lake Travis, has refused to pick it up, said Commissioner Ann Howard, “so we’re in a quagmire as to who is going to pick up dangerous things like that.” Staff indicated that they will ask the Texas Division of Emergency Management to ask LCRA to handle it.
On the other side of flood recovery, there are the people whose homes were destroyed that are now having to navigate a quagmire of insurance claims. At Round Mountain Baptist Church, the county is coordinating help with that process by doing outreach with Austin Disaster Relief Network, Samaritan’s Purse, and other aid organizations “trying to get the message out,” said Sean Snyder, Travis County floodplain manager. “I think we’re starting to see more uptick, because I think people are starting to get the responses from signing up with FEMA for individual assistance. But we’re still a little low on people coming and talking to us.”
Commissioners indicated that they’ve heard complaints from community members about how hard it is to access aid from FEMA, one of the biggest issues being that they already needed to have flood insurance in order to receive assistance. There are other policies, such as the preferred risk policy, that have lower rates, but county staff said they are difficult to navigate. They recommended people look up insurance agents that can help them choose a policy at floodsmart.gov.
But residents dealing with the aftermath of the flood are overwhelmed with the amount of things on their plate already – one resident of the Sandy Creek area told the Austin American-Statesman that there is too much going on to look at a ‘.gov website,’ saying she needs someone on the ground to talk to.
“It’s just overwhelming for people,” said Howard, who urged having more onsite support for insurance claims at the church. “It’s a property-by-property situation, the flood plain moves, the elevation is different, the geography is different. And so I would suggest that staff consider how we might provide computers so folks can get online, fill out these applications, and then ask for help when they hit a road block.”
Brotherton said they will work with the county to provide tech at the church and ask ADRN and other volunteer groups to staff them. Samaritans Purse has been providing financial assistance at the Round Mountain Baptist Church, but their deadline is August 24. Another website, txfloods.aidkit.org/apply has been giving out direct $2,400 cash payments to those impacted by the flood. And the county has asked DPS to assist people with documents at the church on August 23.
This assistance is urgent, since the FEMA deadline is right around the corner, on September 4.
“Please, please, please,” said Brotherton. “Residents impacted in those zip codes – 78641, 78611 in Travis County – if you had any impacts, apply. Many times other agencies that are seeking to assist you will ask if you applied for FEMA, whether you got assistance or not.”
The last day for curbside flood debris pickup service in flood-affected areas of Northwest Travis County will be Sunday, August 24, 2025.
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