AUSTIN (KXAN) — Shoal Creek flooded onto roads during rush hour Monday. It’s the highest level the creek has reached since 2015.

James Valentine’s car got stuck in the water on North Lamar near 10th Street.

“We got locked up and got stuck. Everybody jumped out and helped everybody else push,” he said, as he waited for his dad to come up from San Marcos to pick him up. “It’s a great community, everybody jumped in to help each other out.”

The parking lots at Fresa’s on Lamar and Shoal Creek Saloon flooded.

“It came pretty quick, but we were ready as we always are,” said Brian Howe, who works at Shoal Creek Saloon. The restaurant closed temporarily, because the water flooded into the patio. “The last major one was 2015, we’ve had a few close calls since then. It comes on the patio maybe once or twice a year.”

He said there was no major damage and the restaurant will open back up Tuesday.

The City’s Watershed Protection Department said crews consistently clear storm drains, inlets and culverts, which can help prevent severe flooding like what people experienced in Dallas this week. The department did say more debris would float through the floodwaters, because it hasn’t rained like this in Austin in so long.

“The downside though, there’s more debris that accumulated on the banks and waterways, that will get flushed,” said John Beachy with Watershed Protection. “So we have a little bit of that first flushing effect.”

The City’s Department of Public Works has crews on standby to quickly deploy to any roads that had to close because of debris or flooding.

“Really the unsung heroes of the city,” said Emily Smith, one of the city’s public information officers. “They’re often first responders in citywide emergencies or major weather events such as this one.”