Thursday
October 1, 2026
Today at a glance
- Weather 90° / 73°Flood watch through Friday night. Check atxfloods.com before you drive anything low.
- Air quality 25 · GoodCleanest air in weeks, if you don't mind getting wet for it.
- Lake Travis 89.2% fullComfortably full, but every dry week takes a little. Down a touch from last week.
- Allergies LowA little elm and grasses and ragweed around — most noses won't notice.
- Power grid NormalA busy afternoon: demand near 72,900 megawatts, with 93,900 on hand.
- Sunrise 7:24 a.m.Clouds all day, so you may not notice the sun either way.
Good morning, Austin. It is finally raining, and it means to keep at it. The Hill Country has been under it since before dawn, five inches at Junction already, and our turn comes late morning into the afternoon: a high of 90 falling to 85, then two to three inches more overnight. The upside is real. The air is the cleanest it has been in weeks, pollen is low, and Friday tops out at 82 with a north wind behind it, which is summer finally packing. The downside is every low crossing in this county. Check atxfloods.com before you drive through anything, and if you are headed to Zilker tomorrow, pack for mud. Sun up at 7:24, though you will have to take that one on faith.
The Briefing
The rain is upstream, and the sirens aren't up
More than five inches of rain fell on Junction by 5 a.m. Mason County took 2.5 to 3 inches. Storms have held west of Interstate 35 this morning and reach the Austin metro late morning into the afternoon, under a moderate flash flood risk, 3 out of 4, across most of the area.
What falls here is not the whole of it. CBS Austin meteorologist Avery Tomasco said the Llano River is Thursday's biggest concern: two to four inches have already landed on the western end of its watershed, and that water is headed downstream toward the Highland Lakes. Austin City Limits (ACL) opens Friday at Zilker Park, and the city says the festival goes ahead unless C3 Presents says otherwise. A cancellation or an evacuation is C3's call; Austin Emergency Management reviews the plans and would help carry one out.
Travis County says all of its departments are ready, with helicopters stationed around the county. Not the sirens. County spokesperson Hector Nieto said contracts have moved forward for sirens near Maha, Onion and Sandy creeks, and that the county wants them running as soon as possible. Asked whether any would be installed before this week's rain, he said, "I don't have an answer to that."
What's next: The Flood Watch runs until 7 p.m. Friday, and ACL gates open that morning at Zilker Park. The forecast and the alert are in Weather, the county's storm posture in Public safety & courts, and the festival's road closures in Growth & infrastructure.
Sources: CBS Austin (the Hill Country totals and the Llano River), KXAN (the timing and the flash flood risk), CBS Austin (Travis County's readiness and the sirens), CBS Austin (who decides whether ACL goes ahead)
City Desk
Money & bills
Austin ISD lost students, and its projected deficit went to $105 million
Enrollment at the Austin Independent School District (AISD) is 66,032 this year, down from about 69,000 last year and below what the district had budgeted for. Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery told the school board the projected deficit rose from $19 million to $105 million. The district says it anticipates cutting about $60 million next year. KXAN
Also
Montgomery put student departures and non-returning students, not counting graduates, at 6,469. "Our attendance revenue was lower, we know that we lost students," she said. KXAN
About 20% of last year's departing students transferred to charter, private, home or virtual schooling, the district says. Roughly 1,000 families inside its boundaries had education savings accounts by the end of July. KXAN
Starting the week of Oct. 5, district staff will knock on doors in Southeast, Northeast and North Central Austin to make the case for enrolling, a spokesperson said. KXAN
Public safety & courts
A man was arrested over a "credible" plot to attack the Capitol today
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) said Benny Caldera Jr., 40, and several co-conspirators planned a violent attack on the Texas Capitol on Oct. 1. Working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police, DPS arrested Caldera at his home in Converse around 3 a.m. Wednesday on a charge of felony terroristic threat against a public servant. Bond is $75,000. KUT
Travis County says every department is on call for the storm
County spokesperson Hector Nieto said multiple helicopters are stationed around the county and that every emergency services district can respond. Officials are pressing residents to sign up for Warn Central Texas and to turn on audible phone alerts. Near Onion Creek, resident Terry Debolt described the routine: "I've had wet socks before, and it's Austin. It's a juggling act between droughts and floods." CBS Austin
Also
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez will stay in custody after a nearly three-hour hearing Wednesday on a charge of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer. KXAN
Special Agent Rick Bazan testified that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers run license plates constantly: "They're out there everywhere running license plates." He called it an everyday occurrence. KXAN
Defense attorney Shane McMahon argued the body-camera video does not show the car's mirror striking an agent. Bazan testified he had not interviewed the agent who fired the shot. KXAN
A driver died in the 6600 block of Ed Bluestein Boulevard southbound around 4:34 a.m. Sunday, the city's 61st fatal crash this year. The Austin Police Department (APD) has not identified him. City of Austin
A Travis County jury sentenced Phillip Sorrentino, 55, to life in prison on Monday for continuous sexual abuse of a child and six other counts, the district attorney's office said. KXAN
APD said it responded to a reported shooting near Navarro Early College High School on Wednesday afternoon. Nobody was hurt, and the department said the shooting did not happen on campus. KXAN
Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) answered nearly 100 opioid overdose calls in the past month. Narcan will be stocked at ACL, and the county gives it away year-round. KXAN
EMS Captain Shannon Koester said crews are tracking cyclorphine, a synthetic opioid officials say may outstrip fentanyl. The medical examiner has linked two deaths this year to it. KXAN
Growth & infrastructure
Rosedale talks collapsed, then Council cleared 435 apartments on the old school site
Residents spent the summer asking the Austin Independent School District to shrink a six-story, 435-unit complex planned for the closed Rosedale Elementary site near 49th and Burnet. Talks broke down Sept. 21. Three days later City Council rezoned the property. Carl Reynolds of the Rosedale Neighborhood Association said deed restrictions dating to the school's 1930s opening return the land to single-family zoning if it ever closed. Austin Chronicle
Also
Developer representative David Hartman told Council the project sits near future Project Connect rail stations, would improve storm sewers, and seeks 75 feet where 120 was allowed. Austin Chronicle
The Other Ones Foundation opened the Glimmer Austin Community Center and 100 more shelter cabins on Sept. 30 at Esperanza, 780 S. US 183, bringing the site to 200 cabins. Community Impact
A neighboring Esperanza II would add 325 more units backed by nearly $50 million in state housing funds, more than $15 million from Austin and $3.5 million from Travis County. Community Impact
Overheard on Reddit
Warning for anyone taking the train this morning
Some issue on the tracks(no idea what) between McKalla and MLK station, so they’re going to have buses bring us to Crestview and Highland, then to MLK station, where we’ll then get back on the train into downtown. May want to plan your commute accordingly.
Stratford Drive closes to general traffic from 9 a.m. to 6 a.m., Thursday through Monday, both ACL weekends. Barton Springs Road closes alongside Zilker Park from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. KXAN
June was the busiest month in the history of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, with more than 2.1 million passengers; the busiest year on record is still 2023. KXAN
Overheard on Reddit
Why is the Austin airport so HOT 🥵
Just landed gate 16. Taco Truck place is so hot to sit near. Even the frozen yogurt place Berrys Austin it’s hot. One employee told me the AC hasn’t been working in their area for a year.
City Hall & county
Six candidates are running for the District 1 council seat covering east and northeast Austin, the most crowded of five races on the Nov. 3 ballot. Austin Current
Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, who has held the seat since 2019, is leaving it. The district runs from Interstate 35 to the Pflugerville line. Austin Current
In District 3, which takes in Govalle, Holly, Montopolis, Riverside and St. Elmo, Council Member José Velásquez faces four challengers. Affordability, transparency and fiscal restraint led their answers. Austin Current
Four of the five District 3 candidates attended a forum hosted by Austin Current, Austin PBS and KUT. Eduardo "Lalito" Romero did not attend and did not answer follow-up questions. Austin Current
Overheard on Reddit
Can someone eli5 Prop I to me
This is the external Audit proposition by Save Austin Now. The proposition reads that the cost of the audit will be paid for by budgetary cuts made by the group. It sounds like a DOGE for Austin. More specifically: let's say the audit discovers $3,650 in the annual budget goes to daily sandwiches for Homeless Sam, and they recommended cutting that from the budget.
Proposition I, which candidates in both districts were asked about, would amend the city charter to require an independent efficiency audit of every city department every five years. Austin Current
The deadline to register for the Nov. 3 election is Monday, Oct. 5; the Bulletin's Vote 2026 page carries the official state and Travis County links. Texas Secretary of State
At a Texas House oversight hearing Wednesday, Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, said the legislature should investigate and impeach Travis County District Attorney José Garza. Garza did not appear. KXAN
Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Gharakhanian read the office's written answer: a prosecutor's job is not to convict but to see that justice is done, and dropping a weak case is following the law. KXAN
Gharakhanian said Austin crime rates have fallen over five years, citing DPS figures. Rep. AJ Louderback, a Republican and former Jackson County sheriff, questioned the numbers. KXAN
Schools
UT closes three majors to new students after folding four departments into one
The University of Texas at Austin (UT) confirmed that incoming students can no longer declare majors in African and African Diaspora Studies, Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, or Women's and Gender Studies. Students already enrolled may finish. Professors have until the end of the semester to propose new majors. The four departments were merged earlier this year. Austin Chronicle
Also
About 50 students and staff marched along Guadalupe Street on Sept. 25, organized by the Texas State Employees Union. Its president, Ilesa Daniels Ross, said the union was standing with students and professors. Austin Chronicle
UT's Dell Medical School will be the key academic partner on two federal projects to speed up clinical trials, announced Wednesday by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. KUT
One project equips more sites to run trials closer to where patients live; the other builds a national research data resource. Dell Medical School will be the first institution to test it. KUT
Business & street life
The city took over Zilker Botanical Garden, and shut it for two weeks
Austin assumed full management of the 28-acre garden on Thursday after the Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy, which has run it since 2015, ceased operations. The garden is closed to the public Oct. 1 through 15 for abatement, renovation and maintenance, covering both ACL weekends, and reopens Oct. 16. The city's partnership agreement with the conservancy ended Sept. 30. KUT
Also
The conservancy's statement, since taken down from its website and social accounts, did not say why the partnership ended. The city has not answered KUT's request for comment. KUT
When it reopens the garden runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, last entry 4:30. Admission is $3 to $8 depending on age and residence, and free for members and children under 2. Community Impact
Chef Philip Speer and Via 313 co-founder Brandon Hunt opened Nobody's Business, a walk-up kitchen inside Lavaca Street Bar downtown, on Sept. 12, in the space Turf N' Surf left in July. Community Impact
Hot chicken chain Tumble 22 will open on South Lamar Boulevard next year, bringing sandwiches, tenders, bone-in chicken and homemade pies. Community Impact
About 75,000 people a day are expected at Zilker Park across the two ACL weekends. The city advises against driving; a free shuttle runs from Walter Seaholm Drive and Electric Drive from 11:30 a.m. KXAN
Overheard on Reddit
To all of us with Airbnb neighbors these next two weekends, I salute you.
ACL weekends are hell for people who live next to Airbnbs. Last year the guests who stayed there during weekend 2 decided they needed to recreate the festival in the backyard until 5 am everyday. Here’s to us!
Weather
Today: showers and thunderstorms, mostly cloudy, a high near 90 falling to about 85 in the afternoon, heat index up to 100, and three quarters of an inch to an inch of new rain. Tonight: showers and thunderstorms, some with heavy rain, low around 73, with 2 to 3 inches possible. National Weather Service
A Flood Watch covers Travis County and much of South Central Texas until 7 p.m. Friday. Forecasters put totals from Wednesday night through Friday at 1 to 4 inches, with isolated amounts up to 8, and warn of potentially life-threatening flooding somewhere in the watch area. National Weather Service
Friday is 80% rain and a high near 82; Saturday 50% and 81; Sunday 40% and 82, with north wind gusting to 25 mph behind the front. National Weather Service
KXAN's forecasters say a second round of heavy rain could redevelop late this evening behind today's line, and that rain coverage drops through the weekend before mostly dry weather arrives Sunday. KXAN
CBS Austin meteorologist Avery Tomasco said months of drought have left the soil too dry to absorb this much rain, and that the Hill Country's shallow soil and steep ground send runoff straight into creeks. CBS Austin
He expects widespread totals of 3 to 5 inches in the Hill Country with isolated amounts of 6 to 8, and river flooding and downstream effects on the Highland Lakes possible through the weekend. CBS Austin
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has more than 1,200 crews and 1,000 pieces of equipment staged statewide, including high-water trucks and rescue boats, and is pre-staging barricades. KXAN
TxDOT deputy executive director Brandye Hendrickson said six inches of fast-moving water can take control of a car away from a driver: "Turn around, don't drown." KXAN
Overheard on Reddit
Watch it won't even rain.
I dunno, it always be like that around here. Edit: It's raining sideways.
The Back Page
1 day until the Austin City Limits (ACL) Festival's first weekend · Gates open Friday at Zilker Park; the festival runs Oct. 2-4 and Oct. 9-11.
Jay Trachtenberg has been to every Austin City Limits festival. That spans 25 years. The KUTX program manager and longtime midday host told KUT that they mostly run together now, but he can still place the first one, in 2002, when a few thousand people wandered a comfortable, half-empty Zilker and everyone assumed it would be the only year. He remembers Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Lizzo. The one that stuck was Ben Harper's set in year two, when the whole park drifted to one stage on a beautiful night: "For me, it really felt like this magical moment of the whole thing coming together." In the dusty years he used to slip out to Barton Springs mid-festival and float there alone with the music still carrying over the water. "That was a real treat for two or three years," he said. He is clear-eyed about what the festival became as the city filled up, and goes anyway. "I take it in stride at this point," he said. KUT