Texas Parks & Wildlife Department game wardens use a boat to rescue residents from floodwaters in Liberty County, Texas. Photo / AP
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department game wardens use a boat to rescue residents from floodwaters in Liberty County, Texas. Photo / AP
High waters flooded neighbourhoods around Houston on Saturday following heavy rains that have already resulted in crews rescuing more than 400 people from homes, rooftops and roads engulfed in murky water. Others prepared to evacuate their property.
A wide region was swamped from Houston to rural east Texas, where game wardens rode airboats through waist-high waters rescuing both people and pets who did not evacuate in time. One crew brought a family and three dogs aboard as rising waters surrounded their cars and home.
A flood watch was in effect through Sunday afternoon, as forecasters predicted additional rainfall on Saturday night and the likelihood of major flooding.
A man waves at Texas Parks & Wildlife Department game wardens as they arrive by boat to rescue residents from floodwaters in Liberty County, Texas. Photo / AP
“It’s going to keep rising this way,” said Miguel Flores Jr, of the northeast Houston neighbourhood of Kingwood. “We don’t know how much more. We’re just preparing for the worst.”
Husband and wife Aron Brown, 45, and Jamie Brown, 41, were two of the many residents who drove or walked to watch the rising waters near a flooded intersection close to the San Jacinto River. Nearby restaurants and a gas station were beginning to flood.
Water could be seen flowing into parts of the couple’s subdivision, but Aron Brown said he wasn’t worried because their home is at a higher elevation than others in the neighbourhood.
Brown, who had driven from his home in a golf cart, said the flooding wasn’t as bad as that caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. He pointed to nearby power lines and said floodwater levels during Harvey had reached the top of the lines.
Residents in low-lying areas asked to evacuate
Friday’s fierce storms forced numerous high-water rescues, including some from the rooftops of flooded homes. Officials redoubled urgent instructions for residents in low-lying areas to evacuate, warning the worst was still to come.
“A lull in heavy rain is expected through [Saturday] evening,” according to the National Weather Service. “The next round of heavy rainfall is expected late [on Saturday] into Sunday.”
Channelview Fire Department personnel and sheriffs get ready to help evacuate the area due to severe flooding in Channelview, Texas. Photo / Houston Chronicle via AP
Up to 7.6cm of additional rain was expected, with up to 12.7cm possible in isolated areas.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said more rain was expected on Sunday, and if it’s a lot, it could be problematic. Hidalgo is the top elected official in the nation’s third-largest county.
Ongoing rain leaves parts of Texas drenched, residents trapped
Most weekends, Miguel Flores Sr is mowing his huge backyard on a 1ha lot behind his home in Kingwood. But on Saturday, he and his family were loading several vehicles with clothes, small appliances and other items.
Water from the San Jacinto River had already swallowed his backyard and was continuing to rise - what was about 30cm high in the yard on Friday measured about 1.2m the following day.
“It’s sad, but what can I do?” Flores said. He added he has flood insurance.
Miguel Flores Sr stands in his flooded backyard outside his home in the northeast Houston neighbourhood of Kingwood. Officials said the area had about four months of rain in about a week’s time. Photo / AP
For weeks, drenching rains in Texas and parts of Louisiana have filled reservoirs and saturated the ground. Floodwaters partially submerged cars and roads this week across parts of southeastern Texas, north of Houston, reaching the roofs of some homes.
More than 53cm fell over a five-day period through Friday in Liberty County near the city of Splendora, about 350km northeast of Houston, according to the National Weather Service.
Hidalgo said on Saturday 178 people and 122 pets have been rescued so far in the county. Scores of rescues took place in neighbouring Montgomery County. In Polk County, about 160km northeast of Houston, officials said they have done over 100 water rescues in the past few days.
Houston is one of the most flood-prone metro areas in the US
Authorities in Houston have not reported any deaths or injuries. The city of more than two million people is one of the most flood-prone metro areas in the country and has much experience dealing with devastating weather.
Hurricane Harvey in 2017 dumped historic rainfall that flooded thousands of homes and resulted in more than 60,000 rescues by government rescue personnel across 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 on Thursday for people living along portions of the river.
A woman, who only gave her name as Lisamarie, checks on two of her puppies after her neighbourhood was evacuated due to severe flooding in Channelview, Texas. Photo / Houston Chronicle via AP
The weather service reported the river was at nearly 22.6m late on Saturday morning after reaching nearly 23.7m. The rapidly changing forecast said the river was expected to fall to near the flood stage of 17.6m by Thursday.
Most of Houston’s city limits were not heavily impacted by the weather. Officials said the area received about four months’ worth of rain in about a week’s time.
A woman, who only gave her name as Lisamarie, checks on an elderly resident inside his RV after their neighbourhood was evacuated. Photo / Houston Chronicle via AP
The greater Houston area covers about 25,900 square kilometres - a footprint slightly bigger than New Jersey. It is criss-crossed by about 2700km of channels, creeks and bayous that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, about 80km southeast of the downtown area.
The system of bayous and reservoirs was built to drain heavy rains, but the engineering system initially designed nearly 100 years ago has struggled to keep up with the city’s growth and bigger storms.
