TRINITY RIVER, Texas – The only way people can get to their homes in the Trinity River Oaks Subdivision is by boat. They have been dealing with high water since April 28, and some homes still have standing water inside.
Neighbors took KPRC 2 reporter Corley Peel showing her the devastation.
“Folks will call people outside and get them to do their shopping and we’ll come over and pick up their groceries for them,” resident Thomas Thompson said.
Thompson has owned a property in the area, since 1996. He said his home was spared, but he boats to his house every day.
“I’ve never seen it this bad before. It’s devastating, these people,” he said.
Thompson has concerns that the reason the water in the Trinity River, located far east of Houston, is still so high is because the Trinity River Authority (TRA) is slowly releasing the Lake Livingston Dam.
“I think the problem is the fact that TRA is going to go by their policy. The problem isn’t so much the flooding, as it is the amount of time that it takes for them to let the water run back into the lake. They close that dam back, it holds the water up here,” he said.
TRA sent KPRC 2 a statement saying if the lake did not exist, the river would still have issues with flooding.
TRA Statement:
The recent flooding that is being experienced in the northern reaches of the Lake Livingston watershed are being caused by the continuous high flow conditions being conveyed down the Trinity River, various creeks and other tributaries in and around the lake’s northern watershed. In addition to river flows, residents in these areas have also experienced historical localized rainfall amounts over the past three weeks with amounts up to 30-inches in some areas. Lowering the level of the lake here at Lake Livingston Dam unfortunately will not bring the water levels back within the riverbanks north of the reservoir. Since April 28th, we have released enough water to fill the lake from empty to normal pool elevation of 131′ MSL approximately 2.25 times, all the while with very little change to the water levels in areas in the northern region of the lake. The lake is not operated as a flood control reservoir and gate operations pass water to maintain an elevation of 131′. During the latter portions of last week, the main lake levels were down to 131 and falling while the levels in the Riverside area continued to rise highlighting the fact that lowering the lake level will not alleviate the river flooding north of the lake. It should also be noted that the highest documented flood events for the Riverside area were recorded in 1942 and 1945 before the lake was impounded in 1968. This highlights the fact that the upper watershed mimics a river system and not the main reservoir during a flood event. We will continue to follow our gate operations procedures in hopes that water levels will begin to recede, and we will get some relief from these rains.
“We realize that this water was right on top of us, I realize you couldn’t do anything about all of it, but water still doesn’t have to be standing here,” Thompson said.
It is unclear when the neighborhood will see relief. A local state of disaster was declared in Trinity County on April 29.