Flash flood warnings are in effect across San Antonio and Texas on Monday and many event organizers have canceled outdoor Fiesta San Antonio events early. Air Force Day at the Alamo and Pilgrimage to the Alamo, two free events that typically draw hundreds of people downtown, were canceled on Monday. So far, the evening’s Texas Cavalier’s River Parade will still carry Fiesta royalty down the San Antonio River Walk at 7 p.m.
Unless conditions are deemed unsafe, a spokesperson stated, the parade will go on as planned. The National Weather Service’s flash flood watch for Bexar County will be in effect until 10 a.m. Tuesday, pending developments.
The Weather Channel is predicting thunderstorms through Thursday.
The Fiesta Commission’s website includes a running list of cancellations. The Southwest Olympic Fiesta was canceled Saturday, as was Sunday’s Fur-esta Fashion Show, Fort Sam Houston Fiesta Ceremony & Fireworks Extravaganza, and the Deco District Arts & Music Festival. The Deco District event will be rescheduled. Follow the event on Facebook for updates.
The canceled events so far are organized by participating member organizations, not the Fiesta Commission. Its website does not account for unofficial Fiesta events.
The free, four-day Ford Mariachi Festival, which is scheduled to start Tuesday at 6 p.m. with a performance by Campanas de America and continue on with performances by more than 40 area high school mariachi, will announce each day at 3 p.m. on the Paseo del Rio’s website if evening performances are canceled.
Houston received the brunt of Texas thunderstorms on Sunday, with parts of the metro area receiving up to 13 inches of rain in only six hours, according to various news reports. Officials compared the storms to Tropical Storm Allison. No fatalities have been reported as of Monday afternoon, but most Houston area schools remain closed.
Waist-deep water was reported at Loop 410 and Interstate 35 Monday morning, but the interstate was reopened in the afternoon. Click here to view emergency street closures.
Public safety officials remind drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians to “turn around, don’t drown” when faced with standing or running water on roadways. Even a few inches of fast-moving water can move a vehicle downstream, endangering drivers, passengers and first responders.
San Antonio Office of Emergency Management will host free, severe weather and disaster preparedness training sessions at San Antonio Public Library locations this week. The St. Bernard Project, a disaster resilience and recovery nonprofit, will share information about identifying risk, creating an emergency safety plan, and insurance processes at these locations and times:
- Landa Branch Library, Monday, April 18, 6:30 p.m.
- Westfall Branch Library, Tuesday, April 19, 2 p.m.
- Central Library, Wednesday, April 20, 6:30 p.m.
- Mission Branch Library, Thursday, April 21, 6:30 p.m.
Trash piles up on a bank of the Mission Reach after heavy rain carried litter downstream from Fiesta events downtown in 2015. This photo, taken by San Antonio River Authority staff, was shared more than 3,000 times on Facebook.
The City and San Antonio River Authority are bracing themselves for cleanup efforts along the Eagleland and Mission reaches of the river, downstream from the River Walk. River Authority staff and Watershed Wise Warriors volunteers picked up more than 2.5 tons of trash after several downpours last year. Littering is one of San Antonio’s most pervasive habits before, during, and after Fiesta.
“SARA is also encouraging the community to register for the Fiesta Verde volunteer opportunities at this year’s Battle of the Flowers and Fiesta Flambeau parades with Keep San Antonio Beautiful,” stated the agency in a news release. “Those interested in learning about volunteer and education opportunities with SARA can sign up to the Watershed Wise Warriors program by visiting www.sara-tx.org.”
Top image: Two children play with an umbrella during the 2015 Battle of Flowers Parade in downtown San Antonio. Photo by Scott Ball.
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