The Trinity River in Liberty County is expected to rise as much as seven more feet between Tuesday and Sunday, cresting at 29.4 feet at the river gauge in Liberty, according to Crista Beasley-Adams, coordinator of the Liberty County Office of Emergency Management.
While rain in Liberty County has been intermittent, the major flooding is the result of storms that dropped a lot of rain over Dallas and areas north of Liberty County.
“I always tell people, ‘Just because the sun is shining outside doesn’t mean it isn’t flooding along the Trinity River in Liberty County,'” Beasley-Adams said. “There is a great deal of water coming downstream from the Dallas area, as well as the area above the [Lake Livingston] dam, [which] has seen lots of rain yesterday and overnight.”
Currently, the Romayor river gauge is at 28.36 feet; Liberty is at 22.28 feet and Moss Bluff is at 9.45 feet. Those numbers will slowly go up in the next few days as the water from upstream finds its way to Liberty County.
The impact to Liberty County will be mainly to roads leading into low-lying subdivisions. Beasley-Adams does not expect that homes in those areas will be threatened unless more rain falls in the next few days.
“Walker County was flooded last night. If they continue to get more rain, then it could change things for us in Liberty County,” she said. “Dallas is still getting rain but it will take some time to get here. The water we are getting now is from storms that happened 10 days ago in Dallas.”
The flooding in the low-lying subdivisions could be prolonged with the back-to-back storms upstream. In 2016, from April to May, the Trinity River was at flood stage, making it one of the worst flood events in recent memory. Since 2015, the river has been above flood stage six times.
The record high for the Liberty bridge is 32.7 feet, which occurred during last year’s Hurricane Harvey, Beasley-Adams said.
The Liberty County Office of Emergency Management is advising residents who live in the low-lying subdivisions, who intend to stay in their homes, to take precautions now. Residents should have enough food, water, medicine, pet food and other supplies to survive on their own.
“Typically the residents of these areas will bring their cars out to higher ground and boat in. We just ask that they prepare by stocking up on food, water, supplies and medicines,” she said. “They also should keep in mind that first responders can’t assist them if water is over the road. If they have to travel in and out to their homes, please do so during daylight hours.”
LCOEM will continue monitoring weather conditions and update as needed. Updates will be posted on http://www.BluebonnetNews.com, other media outlets and on the LCOEM’s Facebook page.
By Vanesa Brashier, editor@bluebonnetnews.com