HOUSTON (AP) — Officials in Houston are advising residents to get ready for increasing flooding following days of heavy rainfall resulting in high-water rescues and mandatory evacuation orders.
“This danger is continuing and it will become more serious. It is not your typical river flood,” stated Hidalgo County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in the nation’s third-largest county, on Friday.
Hidalgo mentioned that a school bus carrying children needed a rescue after driving into high waters, but everyone on board was safe.
More than 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain fell in the past 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service, which has given a flood warning until Tuesday for the region.
A flash flood warning was also in effect in the area on Friday morning.
There is particular worry about an area along the San Jacinto River, which is expected to keep rising as more rain falls and officials release extra water from an already full reservoir.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in the nation’s third-largest county, on Thursday ordered a mandatory evacuation for those living along parts of the river and described the situation as “life-threatening” and “catastrophic.”
“This danger is continuing and it will become more serious. It is not your typical river flood,” Hidalgo said.
Hidalgo mentioned several hundred structures at risk of flooding.
The weather service said the river was at 66.2 feet (20.18 meters) on Friday morning and expected to reach 76.6 feet (23.35 meters) on Saturday.
The flood stage for the river is 58 feet (17.68 meters), according to the weather service.
Hidalgo cautioned others residing along the river in southern parts of the county that they could be stuck for days if they remain in their homes.
No injuries or deaths have been reported, but officials have reported several people being rescued from high waters.
In Conroe, just north of Houston, rescuers used boats to save people and pets from their homes, then took them from the boats to higher ground.
Neighborhoods and businesses in Livingston — northeast of Conroe — were flooded, with water rising to the windshields of moving vans and above the bottom of windows of some buildings.
In College Station, a driver was saved Thursday from a light pole she had climbed when the car she drove into high water in a parking lot and was washed away in a creek.
Storms over the past month in southeast Texas and parts of Louisiana have poured more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) of rain in some areas, according to the National Weather Service.
