HOUSTON – Some homeowners in northwest Harris County woke up Friday to find their streets turned into lakes.
Officials said dozens of homes flooded after rains drenched the Houston area this week and caused creeks to flow out of their banks.
Francisco Sanchez of the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said homes have been reported flooded in northwest Harris County and Montgomery County. He said Little Cypress Creek was flowing 2 to 3 feet above its banks.
A shelter has been opened in Magnolia for residents who have been evacuated from their homes. It's at Livingstone Church, 26605 Peden Road. About 30 people were there as of 3 p.m. Friday, but it has capacity for 100.
A second shelter was opened at Glenloch Elementary, 27505 Glen Loch Drive in The Woodlands, for residents whose homes are flooded in the Spring Creek area.
Homes in the Norchester subdivision along Jones Road near Cypresswood were only accessible by boats.
Residents said the flooding began at 7 a.m. and within 30 minutes, the water was as high as chest-deep in spots.
"Just came up quick," resident Patty Bonar said. "We got up this morning and here it was. You can't go to work. You can't leave the neighborhood, really."
"I got a phone call at 7:30 this morning," resident Andrew Sauer said. "Looked out the window and my car was under water."
The Cypress Creek Volunteer Fire Department has been using boats to bring residents to higher ground. About 54 residents were evacuated by 2 p.m.
"We pitched stuff up and packed baby clothes, diapers and milk," resident Martha Michals said. "Now we're out."
The homes did not have electricity.
"It's dark and bugs are coming in," resident Jessie Rios said.
Michelle Colby said her house wasn't flooded, but she wanted to get her children out before that changed. They paddled through high water in their neighborhood to get out.
"We're just getting the kids out to my mom's house ... let them be safe," Colby said.
Colby said some of her neighbors weren't as lucky as she has been, so far at least.
"Our house is the most elevated, but our neighbors across the street have about 8 inches in their house," she said. "Their cars are totaled."
A "road closed" sign was placed at the intersection of Telge and Huffmeister. High water forced officials to close the area. Hundreds of homes were surrounded by water.
"There's a large amount of water that's covering the Longwood area. The bayou that runs along Spring Cypress in the Telge area is completely under water. You can't pass in or out of the neighborhood," resident Joey Norman said. "It's one of the worst floods I've seen in living 15, 16 years out here."
"I didn't realize it was going to be this bad because when we came home last night, it wasn't this bad because we came down this road," resident Lisa Mancilla said.
A woman called to be rescued from her car on Jarvis at Barker Cypress Thursday at 9:30 p.m., but officials had a hard time finding her.
"We were able to talk to her on the cellphone to try and pinpoint where she was. She could hear us but we weren't able to see her in the dark. We deployed our boat and were able to locate her and rescue her," said Robert Rosa with the Cy-Fair Fire Department.
Residents who choose to leave as a precautionary measure and are able to do so without encountering high water locations are encouraged to do so during daylight, the Harris County Office of Emergency Management said.
Some homes on Mueschke Road flooded on Thursday, but on Friday the water receded. They spent Friday cleaning up and getting in touch with their insurance companies.
Residents who live near Spring Creek in the Spring area were worried Friday because the creek was overflowing its banks.
May residents rented trucks to get their things out before water got into their homes.
Some homeowners deal with storm damage
Residents in Baytown weren't dealing with flooding, but they had downed trees and power lines.
People who live on Long Meadow near Littlewood heard a giant pop about noon. A tree snapped and fell on power lines. One of the power poles fell onto a garage.
Residents had to wait for utility workers to come turn off the power before they could start to clean up.
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