7/31/2019 1983705 - 07_07_2002 - 01A - METRO

1/1

DAILY NZ P A G E 1A C O L O R CMYK P U B D A T E 07-07-02 O P E R A T O R CCI D A T E 07/07/02 T I M E 00:48

DAILY NZ P A G E 1A C O L O R CMYK P U B D A T E 07-07-02 O P E R A T O R CCI D A T E 07/07/02 T I M E 00:48

From theSan AntonioExpress-Newsand KENS 5. Get personalizednews and information.

Todays WeatherStorm chanceHigh 93, Low 74

Full weather report, Page 16C INDEXBusiness 1K Deaths 6B Metro/State 1B S.A. Life 1J

Classifieds 1E Drive 1F Movies 5H Sports 1C

Culturas 1H Editorials 2G Puzzles 8J Travel 1L

137th year, No. 277,544 pages. Entirecontents copyright2002, San AntonioExpress-News.This newspaper isrecyclable.

S

S E R V I N G S O U T H T E X A S S I N C E 1 8 6 5

$1.50

SUNDAY, JULY 7, 2002

BY AMIRSHAH

ASSOCIATED PRESS

KABUL, Afghanistan Twogunmen firing assault rifles Sat-urday assassinated Afghan VicePresident Abdul Qadir, a vet-eran Pashtun warlord and keyfigure in U.S.-backed efforts tobring stability to the war-frac-tured nation.

President Ha-mid Karzaisummoned hisCabinet to an

emergency ses-sion and policeset up road-blocks through-out the city af-ter the gunmen

escaped.Uniformed troops armed with

Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launcherstook up positions in front ofgovernment ministries.

A government statement is-sued after the meeting blamed

the assassination on terrorists.Karzai appointed a commis-

sion headed by Interior Minis-ter Taj Mohammad Wardak and

another vice president, KarimKhalili, to investigate the assas-sination.

Karzai will send a senior gov-ernment delegation to the fu-neral in Jalalabad today, thestatement said. The governmentdeclared Tuesday a nationalday of mourning.

The attack occurred about12:40 p.m. as Qadir, one of threevice presidents, was leaving bycar from the heavily guardedMinistry of Public Works,

which he also headed.The gunmen sprayed nearly

40 rounds into his vehicle, kill-ing Qadir and his driver.

The riflemen, dressed in tra-ditional, shawal khameez gar-ments and wearing white skullcaps, then jumped into a whitecar and escaped, police officialAbdul Raouf Dad said.

All 10 uniformed securityguards on duty at the ministrywere arrested because they ap-parently made no attempt tostop the attack or pursue theshooters, Kabul Police Chief

Riflemen assassinate Afghan VPThe veteran warlord

was a key part of U.S.

efforts for stability.D

See GUNMEN/24A

QADIR

BY JOE HOLLEY

EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITER

Had Noah been on the watersSaturday, it would have been atime for releasing doves andcasting about for a place to dock.

After a week of torrentialdownpours sent water overflow-ing from the banks of creeksand rivers and over the spill-ways at Canyon and Medinalakes the Hill Country rainssubsided.

Thousands of those forcedfrom their homes by floodwatersventured back home to begincleaning up, and officials fromBandera and Medina countieswest of San Antonio to Wilsonand Gonzales counties on theeast met to assess the damage.

In some areas, it was exten-sive.

In San Antonio, the sun cameout, and U.S. 281 was open forthe first full day since Tuesday.

There were scattered showers tothe north and northwest Satur-day, with the chance of rain to-day at 40 percent in Bandera,Kendall, Medina and Uvaldecounties.

Meteorologists again soundeda cautionary note about thecoming week, saying a newstorm system was bringing an-other 30 percent chance of rainfor Tuesday and Wednesday.

Without more rain, the SanAntonio River near Elmendorfwas expected to crest at about 67feet by early today. The record is64.2 feet; flood stage is 35 feet.The Medina River at U.S. 281was expected to crest Saturdaynight at 61 feet, 6 feet above therecord.

In the Nueces River basin, theFrio, Atascosa and Nueces riv-

ers are expected to be in floodstage well into the week.

As the crest of the flood movestoward the Gulf of Mexico, ma-

jor widespread lowland floodingin the Nueces basin is predictedaround Cotulla, Whitsett, ThreeRivers, Mathis, Bluntzer and Ca-lallen.

While the runoff from thestorm headed toward the gulf,the storm that ravaged the HillCountry moved north, forcingauthorities to warn thousands ofresidents in the Abliene area toleave their homes Saturday, theAssociated Press reported. Offi-cials were anticipating overflow-ing creeks and another down-pour about 24 hours after the re-gion was deluged with up to afoot of rain.

For most people in the SanAntonio area, Saturday was aday to take stock.

Engineers on Saturday morn-

Downstream communities brace for their turnas the high water begins to recede in the San Antonio area

Flooding heads southNEW BRAUNFELS: NO LIVES LOST YET, BUT DAMAGE MAY EXCEED 98

TOM REEL/STAFF

A shattered home from the Rivercrest subdivision in New Braunfels floats over the Commons Street bridge on the Guadalupe River.

See HIGH/12A

FLOOD OF 2002: FIVE PAGES OF COVERAGE INSIDE / 10-14A

INSIDE TODAY S PAPER

Disagree with Doones-bury? Chances are youlllike Mallard Fillmore.

Look for thisnew comicstrip today inInsight, thendaily onthe OtherViewspage.

Page 6G

New comic view

Serena eclipses VenusYounger Williams wins title bybeating her sister, the defendingWimbledon champ. Page 1C

Report rips Enron boardSenate panel says corporationsdirectors ignored financial prob-

lems. Page 6A

BY JERRY NEEDHAM

EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITER

Record rainfalls pushed twoHill Country dams beyond ca-pacity, but the structures didwhat the designers intendedthem to do despite the over-whelming volume of water.

Some areas behind Canyonand Medina lakes were delugedwith more than 2 feet of rainlast week, and runoff into Can-yon Lake more than doubled

the amount of water stored be-hind the dam before flowingover the spillway for the firsttime.

The runoff at Canyon andMedina caused the reservoirs

to top their spillways by up to10 feet. Water pouring over thespillway at Medina causedalarm downstream Fridaynight, after officials briefly ex-pressed concerns about thedams integrity. On Saturday,authorities reassured residentsthat the dam was safe.

The uncontrolled spills, alongwith heavy rains that fell inwatersheds below the dams,were dumping tens of billionsof gallons of water into already

flooding rivers.During its unusually sus-tained eight-hour peak Satur-day, Canyons spillover sentmore than 14.65 billion gallonsof water down the already

flooded Guadalupe River. Thatsalmost one-fourth of what cus-tomers of the San Antonio Wa-ter System use in a year.

And, unlike the San AntonioRiver basin, the Guadalupe ba-sin flow wasnt even at a recordlevel.

Some peak flood flows in theMedina and San Antonio riversare setting records.

Among them are the:Medina River spillover at the

lake spillway rose to 10.4 feet

Friday night, just 20 inchesfrom the top of the dam.Medina River at La Coste

crested Saturday at 31 feet, 7

Dams in the area are doingwhat they were designed to do

See DAMS/14A

BANDERA: PICKING UPTHE PIECES OF LIVES

BOB OWEN/STAFF

Brandy Guenther (right) and Melissa Guenther, sisters-in-law, try toretrieve kitchen equipment from Bandera Creek after their housewas washed away. See story on Page 11A.

M