SAN ANTONIO, July 9 (UPI) -- Swarms of mosquitoes and a broken sewer line in San Antonio added to the misery of the massive flood cleanup Tuesday in central and south Texas.
Officials also began to add up the lost tourist dollars in vacation towns like New Braunfels and losses suffered by farmers and ranchers.
Gov. Rick Perry estimates the losses across 33,000 square miles of Texas may total more than $1 billion. The Red Cross says 48,000 families have been impacted in San Antonio alone.
On Tuesday as residents shoveled thick, smelly mud from their houses and tried to make repairs the San Antonio Water District announced a sewer line had broken due to pressure from the recent high water.
About 100,000 gallons of wastewater spilled into the Leon Creek watershed and utility crews quickly worked to build a dam so they could make emergency repairs on the pipeline.
"We are walking the neighborhood to let people know that they should not be wading, swimming or coming in contact with this water," said John McBroom, the systems operations vice president. "People should immediately wash up if they do come in contact with the water."
Texas Department of Health officials also warned Tuesday that swarms of mosquitoes would be breeding in pools of standing water across the devastated area although they probably would be disease free.
Paul Fournier, a state entomologist, assured flood victims that the first onslaught of mosquitoes would be mainly nuisance mosquitoes that are not likely to carry disease.
Although the mosquito-borne West Nile virus was detected last month in the Houston area, Fournier said there is no evidence that they are present in any other parts of the state.
Fournier urged people to drain standing water that collects in ditches and containers and use an insect repellant that contains DEET and wear long-sleeve shirts and long pants in infested areas.
In New Braunfels, Chamber of Commerce President Michael Meek told the Houston Chronicle the flooding was a "worst-case scenario" for the city's $200 million-a-year tourism industry.
"The overwhelming majority of that $200 million takes place in the summertime, so this was one of those events you hope never happens -- on a major holiday weekend," he said.
Agriculture officials were also beginning to total up the preliminary loss estimates from the flooding which covered crop land and left livestock stranded in some areas of the region.
Joe Pena, an economist with the Texas Cooperative Extension at Uvalde in South Texas, said it was the rainiest period on record in that area, with 15 to more than 30 inches of very heavy rain.
He said the rain would have a positive impact in some ways, especially pastures and ranges. While the rains came too late to help corn and sorghum, pecans, cotton and peanuts may be helped.
Pena said it is too early to make a reliable estimate, but early guesses indicate that agricultural production losses may exceed $20 million in his area, not counting losses to capital assets such as fences, homes, barns, roads and culverts.
