Hundreds rescued from Texas floods as forecast calls for more rain and rising water
HOUSTON– High water levels flooded neighborhoods around Houston on Saturday after heavy rains led crews to rescue more than 400 people from homes, roofs and roads submerged in murky water. Others prepared to evacuate their properties.
A flood watch remained in effect through Sunday afternoon as forecasters predicted additional rainfall Saturday night and the potential for major flooding in Harris County, the nation’s third-largest county, which includes Houston, and nearby areas.
βA break of heavy rain is expected through (Saturday) evening,β the National Weather Service reported. βThe next round of heavy rainfall is expected late (Saturday) through Sunday.β
Up to 7.6 centimeters of additional rain was expected, with up to 12.7 centimeters possible in isolated areas.
Houston authorities reported no deaths or injuries. Judge Lina Hidalgo, Harris County’s top elected official, said Saturday that 178 people and 122 pets have been rescued in the county so far.
A wide area was flooded, from Houston to rural East Texas, where game wardens drove airboats through waist-high waters to rescue people and pets who had not evacuated in time. One crew brought a family and three dogs on board as rising waters surrounded their cars and home.
βIt’s going to continue to rise this way,β said Miguel Flores Jr., of the Kingwood neighborhood in northeast Houston. βWe don’t know how much more. We are only preparing for the worst.β
Friday’s fierce storms forced numerous high-water rescues, including some from the roofs of flooded homes. Officials doubled down on urgent instructions for residents in low-lying areas to evacuate, warning that the worst was yet to come.
Most weekends, Flores’ father, Miguel Flores Sr., is mowing his enormous backyard on a three-acre lot behind his Kingwood home. But on Saturday, he and his family loaded several vehicles with clothing, small appliances and other items.
Water from the San Jacinto River had already swallowed his backyard and continued to rise, from about a foot high in the yard on Friday to about four feet the next day.
βIt’s sad, but what can I do,β Flores said, noting he has flood insurance.
For weeks, torrential rains in Texas and parts of Louisiana have filled reservoirs and saturated the ground. Floodwaters this week partially submerged cars and roads in parts of southeastern Texas north of Houston, reaching the roofs of some homes.
More than 20 inches (53 centimeters) fell in Liberty County near the town of Splendora, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Houston, over a five-day period through Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
Dozens of rescues took place in neighboring Montgomery County. In Polk County, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northeast of Houston, officials said more than 100 water rescues had taken place in recent days.
Houston is one of the most flood-prone metro areas in the country. The city of more than 2 million inhabitants has a long experience with devastating weather.
Hurricane Harvey dumped historic rainfall in 2017 that flooded thousands of homes and resulted in more than 60,000 rescues by government emergency personnel in Harris County.
Of particular concern was an area along the San Jacinto River, which was expected to continue rising as more rain falls and officials release water from a full reservoir. Hidalgo issued a mandatory evacuation order Thursday for people living along parts of the river.
The weather service reported the river was at nearly 70 feet late Saturday morning after reaching nearly 75 feet. The rapidly changing forecast said the river is expected to drop to nearly 55 feet (17.6 meters) on Thursday.
Most of Houston’s city limits were not severely affected by the weather. Officials said about four months of rain fell in the area in about a week.
The greater Houston area covers approximately 15,000 square miles (25,900 square kilometers), a footprint slightly larger than that of New Jersey. It is crossed by approximately 1,700 miles of canals, creeks and swamps that empty into the Gulf of Mexico about 50 miles southeast of downtown.
The system of bayous and reservoirs was built to drain heavy rainfall, but the technology designed nearly 100 years ago has struggled to keep up with the city’s growth and larger storms.
Husband and wife Aron Brown, 45, and Jamie Brown, 41, were two of many residents who drove or walked to watch rising waters near a flooded intersection near the San Jacinto River. Nearby restaurants and a gas station began to flood.
Water could be seen rushing into parts of the couple’s subdivision, but Aron Brown said he wasn’t concerned because their home is higher than others in the neighborhood.
Brown, who rode in a golf cart from his home, said the flooding was not as bad as Hurricane Harvey in 2017. He pointed to nearby power lines and said the flooding reached the top of the lines during Harvey.
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Associated Press reporters Ken Miller in Edmond, Oklahoma, Jim Vertuno in Austin and Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed to this report.
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