NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – New Braunfels police have temporarily closed a popular tubing area of the Comal River on Monday as overnight storms pushed the debris into the water and the river’s flow to a potentially dangerous speed.
Authorities said on Facebook around 11:30 a.m. Monday that “rainfall, strong flows, and continued poor water clarity have prompted city officials to keep the Comal River in New Braunfels closed for the remainder of the day today (05-25-20), with a reevaluation of river conditions on Tuesday morning. There is currently no change in status to recreation on the Guadalupe River inside the city limits of New Braunfels.”
The police department added that forecasters “are predicting more rain tonight and over the next several days. Those factors will also play a role in future decisions made by city officials.”
Initially, New Braunfels police said the Tube Chute Dam would be closed until at least 11 a.m. and potentially longer.
“Heavy rains last night have caused an increased flow of water in the Comal River this morning. Overnight, the Comal River flow reached over 500cfs and water went over the Tube Chute Dam. As of this release, the flow has come down to 429cfs and the clarity of the water is still very poor. Therefore, the Comal River in New Braunfels is temporarily closed for recreation in order to wait for waters to recede and for minor amounts of debris to be cleaned up. City officials will reevaluate the river flow and conditions at the Tube Chute at 11am and a determination will be made then about whether recreation can resume today,” according to the New Braunfels Police Department’s Facebook post.
This story will be updated with the latest information. (Find the latest weather alerts and forecasts from our meteorologists here and alternatives to recreation around San Antonio here.)
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Posted by New Braunfels Police Department on Monday, May 25, 2020
The river access point generally sees thousands of tubers on Memorial Day and despite this year’s pandemic, crowds were seen on Saturday and Sunday.