CONROE – The River Plantation community in Conroe has been hit hard by this week’s flooding, and it’s facing up to three more inches of rain this weekend, according to KPRC 2 Meteorologist Justin Stapleton.
The Flood Watch for Houston and SE Texas is now extended through Sunday evening. Waters are rising in rivers and lakes over the weekend, and they aren’t expected to go down quickly. Flooding issues will persist through early next week, Stapleton said.
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With water rising and the threats ahead, people in River Plantation have been scrambling to get to drier ground.
The Gines family were among a truck full of folks evacuated Thursday night.
“When Lake Conroe releases the dams, the water just comes in,” said Erica Gines.
She noticed the water rising around 5 p.m. Thursday, and the reservoir in her backyard filled. Water started flooding her house after dark.
“It stressful. It’s beyond stressful, and we just moved in.”
“I’m ready to go to bed,” Gines said. She plans to figure out where to go from here after some good sleep.
Jordan Ortiz moved from Utah to River Plantation with his wife, three kids and four dogs two years ago. They got out Thursday afternoon, but he came back later that night to check on his house and the water was up to his ankles. He returned again Friday morning to find a very different scene.
“And now my where the mailbox is, I would say is about my stomach. So that water has got to be right about my waist at this point,” Ortiz said.
“I don’t know, but did I think it would get this bad. I was just glad it wasn’t worse. We knew it could happen. We heard it, you know, on average about every six, seven years you’re going to experience this down here. So, I don’t know, I just I, I’ve put a lot of my faith in God and don’t really stress about what could or couldn’t happen.”
Also in that truck was KPRC 2 photographer Doug Burgess and KPRC 2 reporter Bryce Newberry. The water rose so fast they too got stuck, had to abandon their truck at the highest point they could find and ride out with the rest of the evacuees.
Friday morning caught more people off-guard as the water got close to the top of mailboxes.
And rescuers needed a boat to get to this family:
Lightning hit a house in River Plantation Friday morning, sparking this fire: