FOX 7 Care Force
City of Bastrop to begin enforcing hands-free ordinance
Round Rock neighborhood on high alert for bobcats
LBJ: the 'can-do' man who helped get us to the Moon
Teen beaten at park, father asks attackers to come forward
Body cam footage, 911 call released from officer-involved shooting last March
FOX 7 Discussion: Restrictions on asylum seekers
Good Day Austin
Cooking with FOX 7
Pets Page
FOX 7 Sports on YouTube
FOX 7 Unplugged
FOX 7 News Team
FOX 7 Signal
Continuous rain will impact Lakes Austin and Lady Bird
By Destiny Chance, FOX 7 Austin
Posted Oct 17 2018 10:23PM CDT
Video Posted Oct 17 2018 10:14PM CDT
The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) says this historic flood in Austin is a dynamic situation and conditions are rapidly changing.
Kathy Johnston has been living on Edgewater Drive for 25 years. A home where hundreds of memories have been made, could be at risk for damage.
LCRA says large amounts of water are moving into lakes in Central Texas and folks need to take every precaution to be careful. She says in 2007, four flood gates were open in Mansfield Dam, which ended up flowing into her backyard.
"Well this is not common. This is only the second time in 20 years of being on the lakefront that it has come up in our yard at all," Johnston says.
So now that eight gates are open, the outcome makes her family very anxious.
"The first thing we did was we reached out to the neighbors that we either knew that were out of town or not living in their residence right now and made sure their boats were secure or secure as possible. And if there was anything else needed to help them out we did it," she says.
LCRA says water flowing from Lake Buchanan will flow into Lake LBJ, Lake Marble Falls, then Lake Travis, then Lake Austin and Lady Bird Lake. Lake Travis is more than 100% full and now well into its flood pool. "Some disasters people have no forewarning or they have very little. So I think we're blessed that we've known for three or four days that things were flooding terribly and that it probably was ultimately going to impact us."
Johnston says she and her husband are thinking ahead of a quick plan, which includes going to a home they rent out to others year round, which is more elevated and further away from the lake. "Keep those who have property by the water. You can save property or replace property but you can never replace a life so we all need to just stay safe," she adds.
By Jennifer Kendall, FOX 7 Austin
A new hands-free ordinance is in effect in Bastrop city limits, although police said they need to fix some street signs before enforcement begins.
"I think it's time. Might save a life or two," said Chris Blair who learned about the dangers of distracted driving seven years ago.
"I was run over by a lady at 6 o'clock, changing a boat tire as a pedestrian, she was doing 70 miles an hour, she was on the phone and it changed my life," Blair said. "Things have been a lot different since then."
By Steven Sarabia, FOX 7 Austin
A Round Rock neighborhood is high alert Tuesday night because of bobcats and the family who got pictures of one worries pets could be on the menu.
Michelle Powell's family was enjoying the morning in their backyard when an unsuspecting visitor walked by. Powell quickly alerted the neighborhood as she doesn't want any kids or pets to get hurt.
Round Rock has plenty of creeks and greenbelts which, according to the city, means plenty of wildlife in them including bobcats.
By Casey Claiborne, FOX 7 Austin
50 years ago, Lyndon B. Johnson looked up. He'd been out of office for about six months as he watched the three-man crew of Apollo 11 launch into outer space -- a mission that would make history.
"What amazes me is that half a century after this remarkable achievement we can still look back and think 'how did we do that?' said Mark Updegrove, president of the LBJ Foundation.
Updegrove says LBJ was one of the catalysts for forming NASA.
FOX 7 Austin News App
Jobs at Fox 7