Grapevine's Main Street Fest prepares for severe weather

Grapevine's Main Street Fest is preparing for the possibility of severe weather on Saturday.

Everything has been tightened and tied down ahead of the weather. Huge signs have been anchored down with sandbags. All across the metroplex, they’re preparing knowing that stormy, wet weather is coming.

Stephanie Flaa and her family are enamored by the water rushing out of Benbrook Lake.

“My boys love to come down here and just observe what’s going on. It’s pretty exciting,” she said.

But Park Ranger Lyndy Black says there’s a serious safety threat that many locals don’t realize.

“Currently, all of our parks are closed and most of them are underwater,” Black explained.

And after recent rain, Benbrook Lake is just 11 inches away from going over the spillway. That prompted the Army Corps of Engineers to close Lakeside Drive Friday night.

Black says the last time the Army Corps had to close the road that borders the north side of the lake was back in 2015.

“Water went over the spillway by about a foot causing Lakeside Drive to partially go underwater,” Black said.

Benbrook is one of eight lakes in the Dallas-Fort Worth region currently holding water at flood stage. And across the state, thousands of reservations for recreation areas have been canceled for the next several weeks.

In Grapevine, the 35th annual Main Street Fest kicked off Friday Morning.

Festival Director Gayle Hall says the staff has gone through drills preparing for stormy weather and spent the last week making sure the tents are anchored securely.

“We do have a lot of businesses on Main Street that open their doors for our guests to go into,” Hall said. “We have a lot of covered structures and then we have a lot of city buildings.”

Mom Bri Snow is worried the rain could put a damper on back-to-back days at the festival.

“It would be hard with the little babies,” she said.

But if it’s dry, Snow says she’ll make the drive out from Fort Worth once again.

“There’s just so much to see,” she said. “You can’t see it all in one day.”

About 160,000 people are expected to attend.

This year is 80s themed because the festival first started in 1985.