Mandatory evacuations ordered in Brazoria County

Cattle are driven west, away from the surging Brazos River, down FM 1462 in Brazoria County. Cattle are driven west, away from the surging Brazos River, down FM 1462 in Brazoria County. Photo: Mark Mulligan, Associated Press Photo: Mark Mulligan, Associated Press Image 1 of / 170 Caption Close Mandatory evacuations ordered in Brazoria County 1 / 170 Back to Gallery

Mandatory evacuations were ordered Thursday night for parts of Brazoria County as the Houston area prepared for a new wave of storms expected to bring several more inches of rain to the waterlogged region.

Meanwhile, a flash flood warning is in effect in Harris, Chambers and Liberty counties until 10:45 p.m.

Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta ordered the evacuation of 300 to 400 families from an area near the swollen Brazos River. The evacuation covers the area near FM 1462 west of Oyster Creek and east of the Brazos River, emergency management spokeswoman Sharon Trower said.

A number of families in the area said Wednesday that they intended to wait out the flood in their homes and had stockpiled provisions. "It's a mandatory evacuation, but we are not going to force anybody to leave," Trower said.

She said about 51 families were registered at the county emergency shelter in Angleton.

The Brazos River was expected to crest at about 4 p.m. Friday at 52.8 feet, Trower said. The river was at 52.1 feet as of 5:45 p.m. Thursday.

The order came after a powerful storm system hammered Harris and Montgomery counties late Wednesday night and Thursday morning, dumping rain on areas such as Kingwood and Spring that are already reeling from the recent Memorial Day weekend floods.

The storm system then moved to the east, giving residents a brief break, before more rain fell Thursday afternoon. Forecasters said residents should expect widespread rain on Friday, possibly exacerbating flooding throughout Southeast Texas.

The storms also had deadly consequences in central Texas. The Associated Press reported that three soldiers died and six were missing after an Army truck was washed from a low-water crossing and overturned in a rain-swollen creek at Fort Hood. The Army reported that the accident happened about 11:30 a.m.

No storm-related deaths were reported in the Houston area as of early Thursday evening.

The storm system that came in Thursday moved off to the east much faster than expected.

"Even though we are seeing a break, it's important to know that we still have a very juicy atmosphere," said Melissa Huffman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Houston/Galveston office.

The forecast still calls for most of the region to see 2 to 3 inches of rain thanks to a large, slow-moving upper level low pressure system moving into Southeast Texas sometime Friday, with some areas possibly experiencing up to 8 inches or more.

While most of the Houston area will see periods of heavy rain on Friday and Saturday, the forecast for Sunday calls for isolated thunderstorms before the area begins to dry out. Typically, the region slips into a drier, hotter patter starting the last two weeks of June.

Meanwhile, area residents on Thursday were feeling the effects of the latest storms.

Floodwaters lapped against the side of a Kingwood-area apartment complex, a short distance from a road that was totally submerged. In Spring, the Mercer Botanic Gardens was again underwater, just a week after it had reopened following a massive clean-up and replanting effort to repair damage from April flooding. Dozens of roads were closed, including the frontage roads along Interstate 45 at North Shepherd Drive. High water prompted TxDOT to shut down Texas 6 from Interstate 10 to Pine Forest.

READ MORE: Dog rescued from the floods is looking for a new home

For residents of the Kingwood area northeast of downtown Houston, it was déjà vu all over again. Marina Drive west of Forest Cove was totally underwater Thursday morning, and residents of the River View apartments had more of a view than they would have liked, with 2 to 3 feet of water on the first level.

Piles of ruined furniture stood outside Brian and Rachel Edwards' townhome on Marina Drive. A black Mitsubishi Eclipse sat in their driveway, ruined by last weekend's flood. So was a white pickup across the way. Trash bags and broken appliances like dryers and lamps lay in front of homes.

Taking advantage of a break in the rain Thursday, Brian and Rachel Edwards washed down coolers and boxes that they were preparing to move back inside their garage, in anticipation of more flooding.

"We'll probably boat out of here like we did last time," said Brian Edwards, 36.

They were waiting for auto insurance money and any government aid they could get, though such assistance hadn't yet been announced for last weekend's floods.

Kingwood area underwater again

Jane Hamm stood on her balcony and watched the creeping flood waters of the San Jacinto. They had already swallowed her fire pit, and a bench out back, and now the water flowed through her garage and out front.

After the April 17 rainstorms and subsequent flooding, Hamm had cleaned her garage out thoroughly, placing all items more than 6 feet off the ground. While in Colorado this past weekend for a niece's graduation, she got a text saying the water was reaching 7 feet, and out floated water skis, coolers, chairs and other belongings.

"My son's high chair, I found it half a mile down the street," Hamm said.

Hamm has lived here for two years, but said these most recent weather events are unusual.

"Everybody is like 'You need to move'" she said.

She isn't making any snap decisions, saying the riverfront community is beautiful most of the year.

"I'm going to have to wait and see what happens," she said.

In the Cypress area, the scene of extensive flooding in April, Thursday's morning storm sent a collective shiver. Neighborhoods near Cypress and Little Cypress creeks were inundated by the so-called Tax Day Flood, and even as homeowners were in the midst of repairs, they were slammed once more last weekend.

"Every time it rains a drop, I start to cry," said Tina Hearn, a resident of the Stable Gate subdivision on Telge Road. "It's fear. I don't know what's going to happen next. You're not comfortable anymore. You can't be -- ever again."

Hearn had watched the contracting team make steady progress in replacing floors, drywall, cabinets and all her home's damaged elements, only to have much of it undone by last week's storm, which brought another few inches of water onto the first floor. Hearing the crack of thunder on Thursday, she wondered about her decision to move to northwest Harris County from Baytown several years ago.

"We moved here to be out of the path of hurricanes," she said. "We love our neighborhood. I am blessed to have such kind neighbors. But at night I lie in bed with all these fears going through my head, all the things that could happen, that probably will happen. I don't think there is a solution."

Even before the most recent storm, Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday had declared a state of disaster in 31 counties, including Brazoria, Fort Bend, Grimes, Liberty and Montgomery.

Moderate rain began falling long before dawn Thursday in the Interstate 45 corridor along a line from Conroe to League City

The flooding -- and the threat of more of it -- prompted Lamar Consolidated Independent School District to cancel classes for the third straight day at Austin, Frost and Jackson elementary schools as well as at Wertheimer Middle, Briscoe Junior High and Foster High schools.

STAY INFORMED: Get up-to-date weather on the Chron.com weather page

In Brazoria and Fort Bend counties, all eyes were on the Brazos, which reached a record 54.7 feet in Richmond on Wednesday - nearly 10 feet above flood stage and more than 4 feet higher than the flood of record in 1994.

At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, County Judge Robert Hebert called the impact of the flooding on individual lives a "terrible tragedy."

While for many in the county living in levy-protected areas, the storms made for a "non-event," Hebert said, for others it had meant losing much of what they'd built over a lifetime.

"This is a tremendous disaster and we should never lose sight of that." he said. "They're suffering... And they're hurting."

More than 550 people had been rescued, the majority of whom were people in knee- or waist-deep water who could walk out of their homes, said Stephen Bjune, a liaison for Texas Task Force 1, which was helping to conduct the evacuations.

The rescues -- which had made use of boats, high-profile military vehicles and, in Simonton, a helicopter -- had focused in the last few days on the neighborhoods of River's Edge and Rio Vista, Bjune said.

Shelters continued to operate in Richmond and in Waller County's nearby city of Brookshire. A second shelter was expected to be opened that afternoon in Richmond.

The hardest-hit roads were along the Brazos River in Fort Bend and Brazoria counties, though Thursday-morning rains flooded some streets in northwest Harris County around Spring.

According to Houston TranStar, the region had 45 high water locations as of 9:45 a.m., most significantly along farm-to-market roads at the Brazos.

"They are really impacting a lot of folks," said Danny Perez, spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation in Houston. "It's not a freeway, and sometimes people only look at if (Interstate) 45 is closed or (U.S.) 59 is closed. But down there, along the farm-to-markets, that is a major thoroughfare for them."

Closed farm-to-market roads included FM 359, FM 723, FM 2920 and FM 1489. Texas 36 at U.S. 90 Alternate was also closed.

"That water has got to move south, so what's impacting Fort Bend is going to move into Brazoria County," he said.

Though flooded roads were most severe in Fort Bend County where the Brazos River was engorged, heavy rains pooled frontage roads along key routes north and northwest of Houston.

At I-45 and Rayford/Sadust, the southbound frontage road was flooded, as were a number of southbound lanes of the freeway at the Hardy Toll Road.

Access to U.S. 59 at the San Jacinto River and at FM 1314 in Porter, north of Kingwood, was limited by flooding around the freeway. Frontage roads along the Grand Parkway and the Imperial Promenade exit east of I-45 were also affected by high waters. Northbound Loop 610 at Clinton, east of the central business district, was also stymied by high water.

For more information on current conditions, Perez said motorists should check TranStar in the Houston area, and drivetexas.org for statewide conditions.

In Fort Bend, the Brazos River in the county seat of Richmond was believed to have reached its peak height just below 54.8 feet Tuesday. It continued to hover at that level Wednesday morning, leaving people stranded with rescues ongoing.

"The river seems to be holding steady," said Beth Wolf, of the Fort Bend County Judge's office, who has been working with the emergency management office. "Nobody is 100 percent sure that it's going to stay, but it is holding high right now."

Among the dozens of people at the Red Cross shelter in Richmond's First Baptist church was 75-year-old Rudy Lopez Jr. He recalled how within hours water had come rushing into the neighborhood where he lived with one of his daughters.

Lopez, who wore a t-shirt, black track pants and a Korean Veteran cap commemorating his Army service, explained how he trusts in God to take care of him, and offered Bible versus to prove it.

Already, Lopez had experienced a lot: the knee injury from war, the work accident that left a scar on his head and the strokes he'd suffered recently. He called the flood a "blessing in disguise." A volunteer he met at the shelter was helping him to get the disability check he'd had trouble figuring out how to secure before. And the disaster brought people together.

"All the neighborhood is here," he said.

Victor Orozco, who gave his age as around 40, said he left his trailer in River's Edge Monday with his five dogs and what clothes he could manage. At first, Orozco, who works in construction, slept in his car. He came to the shelter to sleep Wednesday night and said, without anywhere else to go, he'd probably stay Thursday night too. He added that he wasn't sure what else to do.

"I lost everything," he said, "everything inside."

For the pastor of the church housing the shelter, John Lockhart, experiences of those like Orozco called to mind a verse of the Lord's Prayer: give us this day our daily bread. "That's how we're going to get through this," Lockhart said -- meaning day by day and with the help of God. "Because it's not one day. It's a lot of days."

For a full list of high-water spots, go to TranStar.

Staff writers Dug Begley, Emily Foxhall, Dale Lezon, Molly Glentzer, Harvey Rice, Mike Tolson and Matthew Tresaugue contributed to this report.