HOUSTON– The Houston region was threatened by worsening flood conditions on Saturday, a day after severe storms lashed the region and authorities warned people in low-lying areas to evacuate ahead of an expected “catastrophic” flood.
A flood watch remained in effect through Sunday afternoon as forecasters predicted additional rain Saturday night, bringing another 1 to 3 inches of water to the soaked area and increasing the chance of major flooding.
Friday’s 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.
“This threat is ongoing and will only get worse. It’s not your typical river flood,” said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in the nation’s third-largest county.
She described the predicted flood as “catastrophic” and said hundreds of structures were at risk of flooding. There had already been at least twenty water rescues in the province, in addition to the rescue of thirty pets. Schools in the flood’s path had to cancel classes and roads became gridlocked as authorities closed highways that brought in water.
For weeks, torrential rains in Texas and parts of Louisiana have filled reservoirs and saturated the ground. Floods this week partially inundated cars and roads in parts of southeastern Texas north of Houston, where high water reached the roofs of some homes.
More than 11 inches of rain fell during a 24-hour period ending Friday morning in the northern Houston suburb of Spring, according to the National Weather Service.
In the rural community of Shepherd, Gilroy Fernandes said he and his wife had about an hour to evacuate after a mandatory order. Their house is on stilts near the Trinity River, and they felt relief when the water began to recede Thursday.
Then the danger grew as they slept.
“Next thing you know, overnight they started releasing more water from the dam at Livingston. And so that caused the level of the river to jump almost 1.5 to 1.8 meters overnight,” said Fernandes. Neighbors who left an hour later found themselves stuck in traffic due to flooding.
In Montgomery County, Judge Mark Keough said there had been more high-water rescues than he could count.
“We estimate we’ve had a couple hundred rescues from homes, from homes, from vehicles,” Keough said.
In Polk County, about 100 miles northeast of Houston, officials have conducted more than 100 water rescues in recent days, said Courtney Comstock, Polk County emergency management coordinator.
She said homes below Lake Livingston Dam and along the Trinity River have been flooded.
“It won’t be until things slow down before we can assess our damage,” Comstock said.
Authorities in Houston had reported no deaths or injuries. The city of more than 2 million residents is one of the most flood-prone metro areas in the country and has a long history of devastating weather.
Hurricane Harvey dumped historic rainfall on the area in 2017, flooding thousands of homes and resulting in more than 60,000 rescues by government rescue personnel throughout Harris County.
Of particular concern was an area along the San Jacinto River in the northeastern part of Harris County, which was expected to continue rising as more rain falls and officials release additional water from an already full reservoir. Judge Hidalgo issued a mandatory evacuation order Thursday for those living along parts of the river.
Most of Houston’s city limits were not hit hard by the weather, except for the northeastern neighborhood of Kingwood. Officials said the area had about four months of rain in about a week. Houston Mayor John Whitmire said rising floodwaters from the San Jacinto River are expected to impact Kingwood Friday and Saturday.
Shelters have opened across the region, including nine run by the American Red Cross.
The weather service reported the river was above 70 feet around noon Friday and was expected to crest at 75 feet Friday evening. The river is expected to drop below the flood level of 55 feet by Tuesday afternoon, according to the weather service.
The greater Houston area covers approximately 10,000 square miles – a footprint slightly larger than that of New Jersey. It is crossed by approximately 1,736 miles (2,736 kilometers) of canals, creeks, and swamps that empty into the Gulf of Mexico about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of downtown.
The city’s system of bayous and reservoirs was built to drain heavy rainfall. But the technology, originally designed nearly 100 years ago, has struggled to keep up with the city’s growth and larger storms.
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Associated Press reporters Ken Miller in Edmond, Oklahoma, and Jim Vertuno in Austin, and Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed to this report.
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