Residents near Beitel Creek call for improved flood warnings following tragic deaths and a city study aims to address flood response and public alert systems.
SAN ANTONIO — Long-time Beitel Creek neighbor Sylvia Halbardier spoke haltingly when she recounted the early morning hours of June 12 when she woke up to the sound of helicopters desperately searching for people who had been swept into the raging water.
“Hearing the helicopters hovering, it was like ‘I can’t believe this.’ It reminded me of ’98 hearing those helicopters,” said Halbardier, who lives less than 500 feet from the main creek channel.
“I told my husband, I said ‘Something’s wrong, something is wrong!'” she said.
Of the 13 people who died, Halbardier said, “That was heartbreaking. It was very heartbreaking!”
Halbardier, who said she moved to the area when she was 3-years-old, has seen plenty of improvement efforts over the years.
After the flood of October 1998, the City condemned a nearby parcel of property and removed a large amount of what was called illegal fill material from the floodplain to increase the capacity of the creek. That reclamation effort was followed by channel improvement projects, all with the goal of making the area safer.
The area has seen two projects completed by the city in 2016 and 2019 and a third completed by Bexar County in 2020.
“I recall in ’98 we had a Stop and Go store right here on the corner and the workers talked about ‘a wall of water’ so this time around when I heard those those phrases used again, ‘a wall of water,’ I was like there’s something that has not been addressed,” she said.
When she heard about the City’s effort to get answers and solutions, she said she had immediate ideas about what could be done, including a better way to warn people of impending danger.
“We get phone messages for missing children, which are important, so there has to be some sort of technology that can alert families,” Halbardier said. “Somebody in the neighborhood would hear and alert everyone else if nothing else but I would assume there’s technology out there capable and it just needs to be assessed and worked into our daily plan.”
The fear of being overwhelmed again, even 26 years after the ’98 flood remains, she said every time they get a significant downpour they worry if their homes will take on water again.
Another woman who stopped at the Briar Glen Trailhead to visit the makeshift memorials to the dead and pay her respects cried and said “Stop! Turn around Don’t Drown is BS! Because they didn’t drive into the water, the water came to them!”
The woman said her heart broke when she learned the people who were swept away weren’t in a low water crossing, they were simply driving down the access road on the north side of Loop 410.
“I feel sorry for the families that have to deal with this because it wasn’t their loved ones fault! They weren’t even trying to drive into the water,” she said.
She said she hopes the study, by the engineering firm Kleinfelder Inc., will address a broad range of concerns.
A news release from the City said the study would help analyze rainfall, flood data, public alerts and the City’s response.
The release claims in the weeks leading up to the storm, crews mowed the area, cleared debris and inspected culverts to help water flow safely.
Quoting from the release, maintenance records include:
“May 2024: Public Works repaired damaged concrete paneling along the Beitel Creek Drainage channel.
April 30, 2025: Crews conducted routine mowing in Beitel Creek (136.51 acres) south of Loop 410.
May 1, 2025 and May 15, 2025: crews conducted routine mowing in Beitel Creek (31.22 acres and 13.28 acres) north of Loop 410.
June 9, 2025: Public Works crews proactively inspected and cleared culverts at Vicar Drive.”
They believe a status update will be shared in 30 days and the final report will be made public once it’s complete.
In the meantime, the city has a rolling schedule for routine maintenance work in flood control channels throughout the city and many flood control projects are in the development pipeline.
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