10 years later: A look at the 2002 Abilene flood and recovery
ABILENE, Texas - Throughout the city, hundreds of homes and businesses were evacuated and it would take months before many things were normal again.
On the morning of July 6, 2002, 4 to 6 inches of rain began falling on already soaked ground in Abilene.
For nearly a week, a total of more than 12 inches of rain had fallen in the area, until the creeks could no longer contain all the water.
Hundreds were evacuated from apartment complexes, homes and businesses near Elm Creek and for many others the water rose too high, too fast.
Julie Porter said the flood water was so high in her neighborhood that she along with her five year old son had to swim to higher ground, where emergency crews were waiting.
And when the water receded came the heartbreak of having to fix the damage.
Taylor County was declared national disaster area and with the help of federal aid the city cleanup began.
Residents piled their belongings and years of memories on their curb sides to be tossed out with the trash and began to rebuild their lives.
In total, more than 600 homes and 51 businesses were flooding in the 2002 disaster.
The heavy rainfall in the Abilene area made its way into the Pecan Bayou Watershed and caused Lake Brownwood to rise to over seven feet above the spillway.
Flood waters spread into portions of Brownwood early the next day, July 7th, 2002.
