At least one person is dead as a result of the severe storm that hit Austin on Wednesday.
The person was walking in a creek bed with two others in the 2200 block of West North Loop Boulevard. The adult was pronounced dead on the scene after being submerged in water for over 20 minutes, Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said at a news conference Thursday morning.
There were nine water-rescue calls during the storm. The calls included vehicle rescues and pedestrians swept away by water, city officials said.
Around 13,000 Austin Energy customers were still without power at 8:15 p.m. on Thursday. A single utility customer typically represents 2.5 people, so the outage is impacting around 32,500 residents.
The utility said it could take a few days to get service back for everyone. It said it would update estimated restoration times once the damage was fully assessed.
So far, crews have seen extensive property damage, Stuart Riley, interim general manager of Austin Energy, said. Strong winds as high as 77 mph and fallen trees pulled down power lines and poles, leading to a peak of 72,500 customers, or around 181,250 people, without power. More than 100 utility poles were broken in the storm.
"Looking at our outage history data in our system, which goes back to 2012, this event is the third worst storm we have had in Austin Energy, following only Winter Storm Mara and Winter Storm Uri," he said.
Austin Energy warned residents not to touch downed power lines or tree limbs that are touching them. Call 512-322-9100 to report a downed line.
Flooding can make roads dangerous, and city officials do not recommend trying to drive through standing water as it is often deeper than it looks. Multiple low-water crossings are closed around Central Texas. Check the status of roads at ATXFloods.com.
Wednesday's storm brought hail, high winds and rain that led to flash flooding. Around 2-3 inches of rain fell within the span of half an hour, officials said.
Austin resident Don Gillespie said the storm was by far the most intense rainfall he’s experienced.
“We’ve had a few heavy rain events, but we haven’t had anything like this in a while,” Gillespie said. “It all seemed to come and go pretty quickly.”
He said it all happened in the span of about 30 minutes. The hail started first along with strong winds. Then the rain came.
Once the sun came out, Gillespie said he walked out to see Hancock Creek, which is just a few hundred feet from his North Austin home where he has lived since 2003.
Normally, he said, the creek is down to a trickle or dry, but on Wednesday the water rose to about a foot or so beneath the pedestrian bridge that spans it. The water was flowing quickly.
He said he noticed a man looking for his friend. A little after 7 p.m., Gillespie said he heard emergency vehicle sirens. The missing man was found and was declared deceased by the rescue crew.
The National Weather Service concluded the storm was not a tornado but a "microburst," a storm with strong, downdraft winds. The NWS estimated the sustained winds were between 65-85 mph, which is about as strong as a Category 1 hurricane.
Damage is mainly centered around North and Central Austin.
Isolated and scattered thunderstorms with the potential for large hail, damaging winds and heavy rain are possible in Austin between 2 and 6 a.m. Friday, the National Weather Service said.
If rain falls in the same places it did last night, more flooding is likely, NWS meteorologist Emily Heller said.
Late tonight into the overnight hours, a complex of storms could affect areas of the Rio Grande, Hill Country and portions of the I-35 including Austin and San Antonio metros. All severe weather hazards possible. #txwx pic.twitter.com/wGRdYMCVse
— NWS Austin/San Antonio (@NWSSanAntonio) May 29, 2025
There are no severe storm watches or warnings currently in effect.