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Flooding Near Toyah, Texas
Bridge Collapse on Interstate 20
Information courtesy of John Lipe,
WFO Lubbock Service Hydrologist |
Flash flooding of Salt
Draw near Toyah, TX (west of Pecos) caused the failure of a protective
levee around Toyah, extensive flooding of most homes and property
in Toyah, and the destruction of the I-20 bridge over Salt Draw between
Toyah and Pecos, TX in Reeves County. Indirectly, 5 lives were also
lost in a weather related traffic accident on U.S. Hwy. 285 south
of Pecos, which was being used as a detour because of the bridge failure.
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The weather-related fatalities
in West Texas occurred in a four-vehicle wreck at about 4:30 a.m.
on U.S. Hwy. 285 in southeastern Reeves County, according to the Texas
Department of Public Safety. That two-lane highway was used as a detour
for eastbound traffic on I-20 after a bridge over the normally dry
Salt Draw was washed away Sunday evening by fast-moving water that
had broken an upstream dam earlier in the day.
No one was hurt when the I-20 bridge crumbled into the Salt Draw about
15 miles west of Pecos. Authorities said they had advance warning
that the collapse was coming and were able to close the road to both
eastbound and westbound traffic. |
Bill Powell, a spokesman for the Texas Department
of Transportation in Austin, said that about 80 feet of roadway in
the eastbound lanes fell into the river, and that additional 40-foot
segments on each side of the river were also damaged. On the westbound
side, Powell said one of the upright supports holding up the bridge
had moved six to eight inches, opening a crack in the roadway. He
said TxDOTengineers were assessing the extent of the damage. "The
water below the bridge looks like the Mississippi -- strong, muddy-brown
currents," he said. "It's very strong under the bridge." |
The following are images from this catastrophic weather event that impacted
Reeves County.
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This section of protective levee around Toyah washed out causing
flash flooding through the town. The levee was built in 1940 to protect
the town from flooding. A debris line exists along remaining sections
of the levee very near the top, suggesting that the failure was caused
by water going over the top.
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This bridge over Salt Draw is immediately downstream of the point
of failure in the levee. This bridge was most likely a contributing
cause of the failure as it acted as a dam across Salt Draw during
high flow. Although water flowed around the bridge through a wide
low lying section to it’s north, one cannot help but notice
that the point of failure was immediately upstream of the bridge.
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This bridge was about ½ mile downstream of the other bridge
at the point of levee failure. Looking at the high water debris line,
it was obvious that even this lower profile bridge was acting as a
dam. The high water mark was within 6 inches of topping the levee
at this point. One can only speculate as to whether the levee would
have been topped if the bridge were not existent or if both were of
this lower profile.
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A faint line across the road near the top of the levee indicates
the high water debris line. Note it sloped downward to the left or
downstream side of the bridge.
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Another view of the section of levee that failed |
| This is a typical home in Toyah. Most buildings in Toyah experienced
2 to 4 feet of muddy flood waters. We were told that almost all of
the cities dumpsters, spare lumber, and everything else outside was
washed downstream and lost.
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Note the high-water mark on brick (dark section lower left) on an
old bank building in downtown Toyah.
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Collapsed east bound lane of I-20 bridge between Toyah and Pecos
over Salt Draw
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Notice the middle bridge support is tilted and lower than the others |
| In the next 3 photos, notice the drop in the stream level as it
enters the bridge area. It is believe the rock embankment caused a
hydrologic jump with associated standing wave, which undermined the
bridge supports and very significantly deepened the channel through
the bridge area. It should be noted that the high watermark line was
well below the bridge level. At the ends of the bridge area, it was
up about 1 foot on the concrete embankment at the west end. |
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This is a view of Salt Draw upstream from the bridge. This wash
is normally dry. The photo was taken the day after the bridge collapsed.
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| This is Salt Draw crossing a county road southwest of Pecos, TX
(downstream from the bridge collapse).
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A sinkhole was beginning to open up along this county road southwest of
Pecos.
| In addition to the flooding near Toyah, a tornado was reported a
few miles northwest of Balmorhea around 7:17 pm. Click here for a
radar image of
this storm. In addition, this supercell
thunderstorm near Verhalen likely produced large hail as it moved
across southern Reeves county. |
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weather.gov 
