SAN ANTONIO – The 500-year flood — that’s what we saw back on Oct. 17, 1998.
Thursday marks 26 years since the devasting weather event, which resulted in 31 deaths and $1.19 million in damage.
Simply put, a “500-year flood” describes the odds of a massive flood happening.
It started raining overnight and by Saturday morning on Oct. 17, 1998, major flooding was already covering much of the area. View archived aerial footage from Sky 12 in the video player above.
But that was just the beginning — the Alamo City officially got 11.26 inches of rain that day and more than 15 inches by the time all was said and done.
Read former KSAT meteorologist Mike Osterhage’s first-hand account of the flood at this link.
Watch: Flood ‘98: KSAT’s complete video documentary of the South Texas flood of 1998