Flood-weary Texans' hopes they could begin digging their way out from under mountains of sludge after massive floods faded today as rains made further evacuations in the western part of the state necessary.
Eight people have died since the waters started their surge last weekend.
Residents in hard-hit New Braunfels on the Guadalupe River north of San Antonio were anxious to return home, but officials said water levels were still too high.
While the river is slowly receding, it had swelled to eight meters (25 feet) above flood levels, ripping homes off their foundations and sending them downstream to pound bridges and scatter debris for miles.
State authorities continued to monitor dams holding back potentially disastrous water flows near San Antonio.
A century-old earthen dam crumbled northwest of the city Friday, adding pressure to structures downstream. Of particular concern was the Medina Lake Dam to the west, initially thought to be weakening under the strain.
"The consensus is that everything is fine," said Brent Wade, assistant director of field operations for the state environmental protection agency, which has been monitoring the dam.
At the huge Canyon Lake Dam, water continued to pour over the spillway - a channel that normally carries off excess water - for the first time in its 45-year history.
Authorities estimated that some 4,000 people had been evacuated in central Texas over the last week, and hundreds more were evacuated near Abilene over the weekend.
AFP