Judge Mitchell updates on flood response as rivers swell and evacuation efforts intensify

UVALDE COUNTY, Texas — As floodwaters continued to rise across parts of Uvalde County Monday, County Judge William Mitchell gave an update on the situation, describing widespread river flooding, evacuation efforts, and the challenges of navigating a region swollen by relentless rainfall.

Right now we’re experiencing some flooding throughout the county,” Judge Mitchell said in a phone interview. “Earlier this morning, it started on the Frio River, so we evacuated people off the Frio starting roughly around two, three o’clock in the morning.

The first wave of evacuations occurred in the Concan area, a popular tourist destination along the Frio River. Mitchell estimated that between 150 and 200 people were safely moved out of the area. “We’ve asked probably 200 to 300 [people] to get out of the jeopardy area, simply because we were anticipating it,” he said.

Flooding has since spread west, where the Nueces River has begun to rise, prompting additional evacuations. “It’s not as high on the Nueces as on the Frio, but we’ve started evacuating people to get them to safe ground,” Mitchell explained. “As well as the Sabinal River, as it comes to Utopia, is also on the rise. It’s at flood stage as well.”

Evacuation Resistance Poses Risks

Judge Mitchell acknowledged the emotional difficulty many residents face when asked to leave their homes.

Evacuation is something that’s very difficult for people. They don’t want to leave their homes. I understand that, but certainly, we don’t want anybody to get hurt,” he said. “We don’t want to put our first responders in a situation where we have to go back in and pull them out — and also put our first responders in jeopardy.

Flooding in the Dark

Much of the recent flooding has occurred overnight, making response efforts even more dangerous.

“So much of this over the last two weeks or so has started out in the dark of night. It just makes things much more difficult to try and get out and certainly save lives,” Mitchell said. “Unless you’re from this part of the country, you don’t know where you are. So many of these people are coming in, visiting these camps… they just don’t know the terrain as we do.”

Daylight has helped residents assess the situation more clearly and, in some cases, evacuate voluntarily. “In daylight, it’s much more easy for people to recognize the peril that they’re in and go ahead and voluntarily get out,” he added.

State Parks, Utilities, and Recovery

Mitchell praised the state’s handling of visitors at Garner State Park: “The state has already done a good job in taking care of their guests inside that park.”

At this time, no widespread power outages have been reported. However, concerns remain about the safety of septic systems. “Most of these places are on septic systems. Those have to be checked out and monitored by the private owner. You don’t know whether their system is safe and ready to be used again,” Mitchell said.

“In this part of the country, it floods, but the water goes down relatively quick as well,” he added.

Neighboring Counties and Texans Helping Texans

When asked about nearby children’s camps in Real County, Mitchell clarified that those are outside his jurisdiction, but emphasized the spirit of regional cooperation. “Real County’s our neighbor, and we’re here to help them. If we need to go up and assist Real County rescues, our first responders are ready to do that as well.”

As for longer-term recovery, the judge said it’s too soon to know exactly what help will be needed.

We really need to see what the damage is and the extent of what we may need before I can positively give you an answer to that,” he said. “But should we need help, certainly — Texans have always been good about helping out Texans. And if we need it as a result of this situation, I’m sure that Texans will be here.

Judge Mitchell updates on flood response as rivers swell and evacuation efforts intensify

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