Houston among millions in Texas on alert for flooding

HOUSTON –  A life-threatening situation continues to unfold across portions of Southeast Texas on Thursday as torrential rain and severe weather pounded the region, causing rivers and streams to overflow their banks and flood numerous communities along the Trinity River and San Jacinto River, triggering urgent evacuations.

That region of Texas has been pounded by relentless rain since Sunday, with rain gauges near Trinity reporting 6-9 inches and Groveton picking up nearly 11 inches of rain from a round of storms at the end of last weekend and into the start of the workweek.

Multiple Flash Flood Warnings were in effect Thursday for several Texas communities as more precipitation fell across many of the same areas on Tuesday and Wednesday, only adding to the epic rainfall totals.

Waterwood picked up more than 10 inches of rain on Wednesday, and Sebastopol wasn’t far behind with 9 inches.

Many other areas picked up more than a half-foot of rain, including Loma, Freestone and Huntsville.

“In hilly terrain, there are hundreds of low water crossings which are potentially dangerous in heavy rain,” the NWS warned. “Do not attempt to cross flooded roads. Find an alternate route.”

NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has included tens of millions of people from Texas to Wisconsin in a Level 2 out of 4 risk of excessive rainfall on Thursday.

But, with heavier rain expected to continue to fall in Southeast Texas, forecasters bumped up that threat to a Level 3 out of 4, or Moderate Risk, of excessive rainfall that has led to the numerous reports of flooding.

Mandatory evacuations ordered in San Jacinto County due to flooding

Voluntary and mandatory evacuations have been ordered in several neighborhoods along the Trinity River and San Jacinto River in Texas, and schools have been closed across the region.

High-water rescue trucks rolled into communities in San Jacinto County on Wednesday, and despite the danger and pleas from officials to evacuate, some people are refusing to leave their homes.

“I think that’s one of the biggest problems we’re going to face is the fact that some of these people do not want to abide by that evacuation order,” Huffman Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tyler Shirley said. “The first rescue we had tonight was exactly that scenario. An individual that wanted to stay and realized that the water was going to rise a lot quicker than he thought. And we ended up having to go back out there after him.”

Shirley called the flooding unprecedented based on how fast the waters rose.

But the life-threatening situation appears to have gotten worse in the area, and that has led to officials in San Jacinto County issuing a mandatory evacuation order for residents living in the unincorporated areas of the county, below the Lake Livingston Dam and along the Trinity River.

Residents have been told to seek shelter with family, friends or at a hotel, but shelters are being opened if that isn’t an option.

Montgomery County residents told to evacuate to higher ground immediately

The Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management issued an urgent message on Facebook Thursday warning residents living along the West Fork of the San Jacinto River south of the Lake Conroe dam to take immediate precautions due to a significant rise in river levels as water is released downstream.

According to the Facebook post, the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) has increased the release to 66,100 cubic feet per second, and downstream flooding was imminent.

“All residents downstream along the West Fork of the San Jacinto River should immediately begin evacuating to higher ground,” officials warned.

More rounds of torrential rain fall across Southeast Texas Thursday

The ground across portions of East and Southeast Texas remains extremely saturated, with forecasters expecting additional rounds of rain and thunderstorms on Thursday.

RELENTLESS SEVERE STORMS CONTINUE TO TORTURE AREAS FROM TEXAS TO UPPER MIDWEST ON THURSDAY

“The trends that we’ve been seeing north of Houston in Walker County, Polk County, Liberty County – a big concern there because the last few days, we’ve actually had a live reporter in these areas showing you that residents are being evacuated,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said.

FOX 26 Houston Reporter Shelby Rose said Wednesday that eight people and 23 dogs needed to be rescued from their homes in Harris County – the most populous county in Texas.

Flood Watches remain in effect for portions of Texas and Louisiana as additional rain and severe weather pummels the region Thursday.

“That same area is getting pounded right now, so it’s a huge concern,” Merwin continued. “That’s why the Flood Watches are up. It’s not only because of the flash flood concern – how much is falling out of the actual sky – but everything that’s filtering down the system.”

Houston is among the Texas cities included in the Flood Watch, as well as Waco, Lufkin and Huntsville. And a large portion of western and northern Louisiana, from Shreveport through Alexandria and into Lake Charles, is also on alert.

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Most areas of East Texas can expect to see an additional 1-2 inches through the rest of the week. But a large area in Southeast Texas will continue to see heavy rain that will push expected rainfall totals much higher.

About 2-3 additional inches could fall north and west of the Dallas area, with some higher amounts of 3-5 inches also possible.

Areas to the north and east of Houston could also see rainfall totals between 2-3 inches through the end of the week, with some communities seeing an additional 3-5 inches.

The flood risk will continue across the area through at least Sunday, when conditions are expected to improve.