FORT WORTH, Texas — The Texas State Capitol flooded Sunday during a flash flood warning as a thunderstorm lingered over Austin, officials said.
Videos from inside the Capitol building showed hallways flooded with several inches of water. Rain poured from the ceiling and down the walls in another video, giving the impression that the storm had moved inside the Capitol building itself.
Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted Sunday afternoon that the State Preservation Board “was working with the Governor’s office as well as all applicable agencies to address flooding at the Capitol stemming from the current storm in Austin.”
“It’s all hands on deck,” Abbott said in the tweet.
The damage was caused by a clogged storm water drain, Chris Currens, a director with the State Preservation Board, said. State Preservation Board personnel were on site assessing the damage Sunday afternoon.
Rainfall began in Austin at about 2:30 p.m., and a flash flood warning was issued at 2:10 p.m. for central Travis County until at least 5:15 p.m. More than 4 inches of rain fell in an hour and 1 to 2 more inches are possible, according to the National Weather Service.
Flooding was also reported at the University of Texas at Austin. Jonathan Sherchand shared a video on Twitter of a fountain of water cascading across the marble floors of Gregory Gym. Sherchand said after about 15 minutes, staff told students to leave the gym despite the ongoing storm outside.
