One day after severe flooding crippled a large swath of the Houston metro area, rivers and creeks continued to rise, forcing a fresh round of evacuations.
Local reporters said the swollen Cypress Creek forced some residents from their homes in northwestern Harris County Tuesday morning. In downtown Houston, some operations returned to normal, but Houston ISD canceled classes for another day, according to the Tyler Morning Telegraph. The University of Houston’s main campus was also closed Tuesday.
Along the San Jacinto River, a Coast Guard rescue crew recovered the body of an unidentified person reported missing after a boat capsized near Interstate 10 in Harris County Tuesday morning, according to KPRC.com. Four other crew members were rescued from the water after the boat capsized at about 7:45 a.m. CDT, the report added.
Officials were examining the strength of two dams on Houston’s west side that have been rated “extremely high risk,” according to the Houston Chronicle. The Addicks and Barker Dams along Interstate 10 and Highway 6, respectively, were expected to fill to 50 percent capacity on Tuesday, the report added. Experts don’t expect these dams to fail, but the Chronicle said if both dams break, it would cause $60 billion in damage and likely deaths.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency in nine counties after widespread, deadly flooding hit the nation’s fourth-largest city Monday morning. Rainfall came down at rates as high as four inches an hour, flooding waterways at rapid rates and leaving residents trapped in their own homes and vehicles.
The above report is from The Weather Channel. Click here to watch videos
By Sean Breslin, The Weather Channel, Special to SouthFloridaReporter.com, April 19, 2016
Here is some two drone videos from earlier today showing the flooding near Coles Crossing, a Houston suburb. Approximately 15 inches of rain fell in a 12 hour period. Below these two videos is a video from yesterday afternoon. Used with permission of JediFlight/YouTube.
