‘Overwhelming’: Misinformation spreading as Travis County recovers from devastating floods

LEANDER, Texas (KXAN) — As the community near Big Sandy Creek in western Travis County works to rebuild after a devastating flood in the early morning hours of July 5 killed at least 7 and left 10 missing, tensions are starting to run high.

On Monday night, false information that a dam broke and a wall of water was once again coming for the community was spread on social media. Residents started to show up at the Round Mountain Baptist Church looking for evacuation information — only to find that information was untrue.

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“I think there’s a lack of communication, I think there’s a lot of bad information being spread,” Justin Hendrix said. “I think that this might just be stressing out and overwhelming everyone.”

Hendrix lives in the Big Sandy Creek area and has been out volunteering — he also knows some of the community members who have passed away due to the floods. He admitted he shared that news on social media Monday night before learning it was untrue.

“You have to give things time because as much as we want it right this second, as much as we wished this never happened, it happened and we are in this together,” Hendrix said.

Travis County says getting information directly from the county is the best way to know what’s going on. In the case of an emergency, Travis County will use its WarnCentralTexas system to get critical information to residents.

“I understand the public’s frustration right now. They’re desperately searching for information…This will continue to be a long road to recovery, but I hope they know that Travis County is here to stand with them, and we’ll get through this recovery with them,” Hector Nieto, the director of Travis County’s public information office, said.