Texans flee record flood, brace for more

More rain, draining of full reservoirs will keep Brazos River high, officials say

Responders with Texas Search and Rescue on Tuesday look inside a truck that was swept away in a flood and found in a pond in Austin.
Responders with Texas Search and Rescue on Tuesday look inside a truck that was swept away in a flood and found in a pond in Austin.

RICHMOND, Texas -- Residents of some rural southeastern Texas counties were bracing for more flooding along a river that reached a record high Tuesday but could swell further with more rain expected in the coming days.

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AP/Austin American-Statesman

A Texas Search and Rescue team looks for a flood victim Tuesday in a pond in Austin. Several people have died and dozens have been rescued after four days of torrential rain and a record crest on the Brazos River in southeastern Texas. “There’s so much water on the Brazos that it’s going to take a long time to drain through the whole river and drain out into the Gulf of Mexico,” National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Overpeck said.

Large areas of suburban communities southwest of Houston were underwater, and hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes before the Brazos River topped 54 feet in Fort Bend County, just two years after it had run dry in places because of drought.

National Weather Service meteorologist Charles Roeseler said 54.23 feet appeared to be the crest at Richmond late Tuesday, but he said it could still go higher before the level starts to fall this morning.

The skies were clear in the affected areas Tuesday, but an additional 1-3 inches of rain expected later this week could keep the Brazos in major flood stage into the weekend. The Brazos runs from New Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico.

"I'm scared," said Abigail Salazar, standing in knee-deep water outside her home in Richmond, where she was collecting personal belongings after the city issued a voluntary evacuation advisory. "My kids ask me in the morning, 'Ma, what happened? The water is here.'"

During the four days of torrential rain last week, at least six people died in floods in Texas. A Brazos River Authority map showed that all 11 of the reservoirs fed by the Brazos were at 95 percent to 100 percent capacity.

Thunderstorms have dropped pockets of intensely heavy rain, or "rain bombs," as meteorologists call them.

These have circulated through east Texas, Dallas and Corpus Christi, along with Austin and San Antonio, hitting some parts harder than others, said Kurt Van Speybroeck, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

As a result, rainfall has ranged from 4 inches in parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth area to 30 inches in Washington County, northwest of Houston, the authorities said.

"Everybody has seen some impact," Van Speybroeck said. "It has been moving all around, but several locations around the state have been taking it on the chin."

Scott Overpeck, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the Brazos River will recede in the coming days but its levels will remain high for up to three weeks, in part because water will need to be released from the swollen reservoirs upriver.

"There's so much water on the Brazos that it's going to take a long time to drain through the whole river and drain out into the Gulf of Mexico," Overpeck said.

In Hood County, southwest of Fort Worth, several roads were washed out and authorities performed about 15 water rescues, including from homes and vehicles, said Sheriff Roger Deeds. He said Tuesday that they were still trying to determine how many homes flooded.

One of the hardest-hit places was Washington County, an area of 622 square miles with a population of about 33,700.

Washington County Judge John Briedensaid workers were trying to assess the damage after 17-30 inches of rain had fallen in 24 hours by Friday.

"We are a rolling-hills area, so generally we don't worry about flooding. It usually goes to low-lying areas," Brieden said. "But this was so much water so quickly, so all of these streams and creeks were going over the tops of roads and bridges."

Information for this article was contributed by John L. Mone and Jim Suhr of The Associated Press; and by Christine Hauser of The New York Times.

A Section on 06/01/2016

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