Storms subside but rescues continue; 2 dead

Water bubbles up on Commerce Street between Travis and Milam in downtown Houston on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. Water bubbles up on Commerce Street between Travis and Milam in downtown Houston on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 194 Caption Close Storms subside but rescues continue; 2 dead 1 / 194 Back to Gallery

Deadly storms shifted their fury from Central Texas to the Houston area Saturday, damaging homes, spawning tornadoes, submerging roads and prompting water rescues that continued into the night even as the rains receded.

Authorities were investigating whether two deaths in Houston were related to the upper-level storm system that swooped in from the west, dumping as much as 12 inches of rain in some neighborhoods and causing Brays and Hunting bayous to overflow. On Friday, storms killed four people in Central Texas, sending flood waters through parts of San Antonio and Austin.

At least half a dozen tornadoes spun out of the storm Saturday, damaging buildings from Burleson County northwest of Houston to Brazoria County to the south. Officials in La Porte reported uprooted trees and scattered debris while residents in Friendswood reported a tornado that damaged about 30 homes.

Houston officials said a tornado wrecked an apartment building in the northwestern part of the city. No injuries were reported until a twister damaged 25 mobile homes in Alvin, in Brazoria County, where two residents suffered minor injuries and three were injured in a nearby community.

Another tornado damaged between 10 and 30 homes in an eastern Harris County subdivision.

"This was so much worse than Hurricane Ike," Friendswood resident Judi Malonecq said about the tornado. "Our vehicles were demolished, there are holes in the side of our house and in the roof ... our trees are uprooted, our fence is completely destroyed, but I'm just thankful that God guided the storm and no one was hurt."

The Friendswood tornado was rated EF-2, a category with winds of up to 150 mph.

Brady Beesoncq, 10, wore yellow gloves as he picked up pieces of debris from a home damaged by the tornado. "I think the tornado came because Halloween is supposed to be scary, and tornadoes are scary," Brady said.

Another resident, Derrik Hilleshiem, said the twister "was so quick I had no time to react. Our two cats were surprisingly calm— calmer than my wife. We have damage in three rooms total."

In the storm's aftermath, Jon Tucker, who manages Abe's Cajun Market & Café, drove around in a work van, handing out coffee and water to stricken residents.

"I took the truck over to the restaurant and loaded five gallons of coffee and a ton of bottles of water," Tucker said. "People like coffee in this type of situation. It was a big hit. Nobody's coffee machine is working here, but the one at the restaurant is, so I figured this would be a good way to help."

The storm dumped heavy rain all across the city, causing more flooding than city officials expected, said Christopher Newport, Mayor Annise Parker's chief of staff.

"We definitely received more rain than was forecast," Newport said. "In terms of damage, we've had more reports of structural flooding from this weekend's rain than last weekend's," when the remnants of Hurricane Patricia soaked the city.

National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Lewis said rainfall was at the upper limits of the agency's forecasts. Some areas were hit with the storm repeatedly, allowing high levels of rain to accumulate, as a stubborn front blocked it from moving, Lewis said.

The storm had spent its fury by the end of the day and the chance of rain dwindled to 20 percent by Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Details of the potentially storm-related local deaths were sketchy.

Emergency management officials said a body was found in a drainage canal in the 1900 block of Briargrove near a bayou. Authorities said it appeared the victim drowned after a traffic accident.

Neighbors speculated that the body was swept along in the flood waters and was stopped by a tree. Typically, the drainage canal has a few inches of water in it, but on Saturday it appeared to be several feet deep.

A neighbor, Patrice Morales, said she was walking her dog with her husband and son about noon Saturday when they saw responders removing a body from the ditch. Morales, who has lived in Briargrove for 12 years, said she routinely sees children walking in the ditch when it's shallow.

Her initial thought, Morales said when she came upon the somber scene: "Please don't let it be a child."

Another death was reported in the 2400 block of Calhoun Court in southeast Houston. Officials said it appeared storm-related buy they could not provide details.

Huntington Bayou overflowed and swamped the Autumn neighborhood in northeast Houston with 4-5 feet of water, Newport said. Some homes had nearly 3 feet of water inside, he said. The Fire Department sent boats through the neighborhood to rescue people stranded in their homes.

The Red Cross set up a shelter at Channelview High School for about 30 evacuees, and others found refuge with friends and family, Newport said.

By noon the Houston Fire Department had made more than 130 water rescues, more than during the previous weekend. The city's 311 information line had received 44 reports of flooded buildings by 2 p.m.

National Weather Service meteorologist Wendy Wong said an upper-level storm system brought the storm in from the west.

The storm knocked out power to more than 47,000 homes, but it was restored to more than 99 percent by the end of the day.

The storm closed major arteries throughout the city, including Interstate 45 and the Hardy Toll Road, and a number of motorists were rescued from cars in flooded underpasses. Travel into downtown Houston became difficult with busy entrances flooded.

The Central Texas death toll rose to four Saturday as two more bodies were recovered in the Austin area. The body of a man whose vehicle was swept away southeast of Austin was found Saturday morning, while the body of a woman in her 60s was recovered later in the day, said Travis County Emergency Services spokeswoman Lisa Block.

Authorities have not released the names of any of the victims.

More than 16 inches of rain soaked one neighborhood on Friday and Austin Bergstrom International Airport suspended all flights after a half-foot of water flooded the air traffic control tower; 40 flights were canceled there on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a lazy creek cutting through Texas wine country, a popular getaway spot, swelled into a rushing torrent, sending eight members of a vacationing church group scrambling to a second floor before they were rescued by the National Guard. Similar conditions in May caused devastating flooding on the Blanco River that swept homes from foundations and killed families who were carried downstream. This time, the river swelled to about 26 feet in Wimberley, nearly twice the flood stage.

More than 70 people spent Friday night at shelters because of the flooding in Central Texas. Hundreds of high-water crossings were closed Saturday in Hays County, and some residents in southeast Travis County, near Austin, were asked to move to higher ground because of residual flooding.

The Associated Press and Chronicle reporters Fauzeya Rahman and Sarah Scully contributed to this story