By Dennis Bergendorf

Dino Castillo

PBA members Wes Malott, Chris and Lynda Barnes, and Dino Castillo, got a scare from storms that pounded eastern Texas with flooding rains in recent days.

Malott lives in Pflugerville, north of Austin, and was at his daughter’s birthday party on Memorial Day but couldn’t leave for an hour because of the downpour. Reaching his home was difficult because many streets were under water.

“In a two and a half hour stretch, we got six inches of rain in some parts,” Malott said, adding that he saw video of an Austin school football stadium that had water up to the eighth row.

At a golf course near the Malott home, a small bridge “was moved about a half mile because the water got so high.”

Malott’s son was scheduled to play a youth baseball tournament game in Waco May 30, but the start was delayed several hours because of rain and damp grounds. He said the kids have not been able to play much for several weeks, because of weather.

Wes Malott

Dallas-Love Airport, some 12 miles from the Barnes home in Flower Mound, reported over five inches of rain May 28. But it appeared that few structures in that Metroplex suburb were badly damaged.

Malott lived near Chris and Lynda before moving to Pflugerville, and said their home is in a low spot, but it’s normally not prone to flooding.

“ yard is sloped enough that I don’t think it’s going to mess up anything in his house,” Malott said.

Dallas television stations reported numerous wild animals in residents’ yards. Station NBCDFW said six people have been bitten by venomous snakes driven from their normal habitat, double the usual number in an entire year. Pictures of the flooding can be found on the NBCDFW web site.

Chris Barnes

Malott said Castillo texted him from the Dallas suburb of Carrollton to say he was all right. Much of the flooding occurred in areas south of Carrollton.

The body of a man believed drowned was recovered May 29 from an area a few miles from Castillo’s home. As of late May 30, the death toll stood at 28 in Texas and Oklahoma.