By Michael Graczyk, <span class="timestamp updated pre" epochtime="1433023576000" datetitle="published" pagetype="leaf" contenttype="article"/>
ROSENBERG, Tex. — The seemingly ceaseless rain has ended in North Texas and Oklahoma, but residents in the greater Houston area warily eyed the swollen, yet-to-crest Brazos River and the skies, which threatened to drop up to five inches of rain late Saturday afternoon and evening.
At least 30 people have been killed in storms that began in Texas and Oklahoma during Memorial Day weekend. Twenty-six of the deaths took place in Texas, and 11 people were still missing Saturday.
The Brazos River southwest of Houston was a main concern Saturday as floodwaters moved from North and Central Texas downstream toward the Gulf of Mexico.
A creek that empties into the Brazos River — which is expected to rise until Monday morning and crest at 50 feet — went up four feet between the time Ricky McCullough, 47, and a friend measured it Friday night and Saturday morning. An alligator poked its snout above water as he talked. It was followed by a black water moccasin slithering along the muddied water.
“I’m concerned about it enough, but I’m a lot more concerned because we have a lot of older people living down here,” he said.
He’s also worried about the forecast of heavy rains — about one to two inches projected for the greater Houston area, according to the National Weather Service. But lead forecaster Scott Overpeck in the Houston office said the storms are expected to be slow-moving, and if they stall out, portions of the area could receive four to five inches in just a few hours.
Earlier in the week, the Colorado River in Wharton, Tex., and the San Jacinto River near Houston were threatening homes, but the National Weather Service said both are expected to recede below flood stage by Sunday. Wharton authorities said Saturday they were considering lifting a mandatory evacuation; residents from 30 homes were ordered to evacuate Friday.
In Central Texas, about 2,000 volunteers and 100 members of an elite search and rescue team searched for a group of people whose vacation house was swept away in a massive flood on the Blanco River.
Among the missing is 6-year-old William Charba, the son of Randy Charba, 42, and Michelle Charba, 43. Michelle’s body was found Wednesday. Michelle’s mother, Sue Carey, 71, is missing, but officials said late Friday they had identified the remains of her father, retired dentist Ralph Carey, 73.
Jonathan McComb, the lone survivor from the house, and his family had joined the Charbas and the Careys for the holiday weekend, all coming from Corpus Christi, Tex. McComb’s wife, Laura, 33, and 4-year-old daughter, Leighton, are unaccounted for. The body of their 6-year-old son, Andrew, was found Wednesday in the river.
In Oklahoma, a state trooper fatally shot a man who was involved in a fight with two troopers who were trying to rescue him and another man from floodwaters, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said Saturday.
The troopers responded to a report of a stranded vehicle in Okmulgee County, about 20 miles south of Tulsa, about 9:30 p.m. Friday. They found two men trying to remove a vehicle from a roadway over which water was rising and moving quickly, according to Capt. Paul Timmons.
“They were trying to get them to come out of the water. They were worried about them getting swept away,” Timmons said. “[The men], for whatever reason, were just really upset about having to leave the vehicle there.”
At least one man attacked a trooper after reaching dry land and was shot and killed, police said.
— Associated Press
ROSENBERG, Tex. — The seemingly ceaseless rain has ended in North Texas and Oklahoma, but residents in the greater Houston area warily eyed the swollen, yet-to-crest Brazos River and the skies, which threatened to drop up to five inches of rain late Saturday afternoon and evening.
At least 30 people have been killed in storms that began in Texas and Oklahoma during Memorial Day weekend. Twenty-six of the deaths took place in Texas, and 11 people were still missing Saturday.
The Brazos River southwest of Houston was a main concern Saturday as floodwaters moved from North and Central Texas downstream toward the Gulf of Mexico.
A creek that empties into the Brazos River — which is expected to rise until Monday morning and crest at 50 feet — went up four feet between the time Ricky McCullough, 47, and a friend measured it Friday night and Saturday morning. An alligator poked its snout above water as he talked. It was followed by a black water moccasin slithering along the muddied water.
“I’m concerned about it enough, but I’m a lot more concerned because we have a lot of older people living down here,” he said.
He’s also worried about the forecast of heavy rains — about one to two inches projected for the greater Houston area, according to the National Weather Service. But lead forecaster Scott Overpeck in the Houston office said the storms are expected to be slow-moving, and if they stall out, portions of the area could receive four to five inches in just a few hours.
Earlier in the week, the Colorado River in Wharton, Tex., and the San Jacinto River near Houston were threatening homes, but the National Weather Service said both are expected to recede below flood stage by Sunday. Wharton authorities said Saturday they were considering lifting a mandatory evacuation; residents from 30 homes were ordered to evacuate Friday.
In Central Texas, about 2,000 volunteers and 100 members of an elite search and rescue team searched for a group of people whose vacation house was swept away in a massive flood on the Blanco River.
Among the missing is 6-year-old William Charba, the son of Randy Charba, 42, and Michelle Charba, 43. Michelle’s body was found Wednesday. Michelle’s mother, Sue Carey, 71, is missing, but officials said late Friday they had identified the remains of her father, retired dentist Ralph Carey, 73.
Jonathan McComb, the lone survivor from the house, and his family had joined the Charbas and the Careys for the holiday weekend, all coming from Corpus Christi, Tex. McComb’s wife, Laura, 33, and 4-year-old daughter, Leighton, are unaccounted for. The body of their 6-year-old son, Andrew, was found Wednesday in the river.
In Oklahoma, a state trooper fatally shot a man who was involved in a fight with two troopers who were trying to rescue him and another man from floodwaters, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said Saturday.
The troopers responded to a report of a stranded vehicle in Okmulgee County, about 20 miles south of Tulsa, about 9:30 p.m. Friday. They found two men trying to remove a vehicle from a roadway over which water was rising and moving quickly, according to Capt. Paul Timmons.
“They were trying to get them to come out of the water. They were worried about them getting swept away,” Timmons said. “[The men], for whatever reason, were just really upset about having to leave the vehicle there.”
At least one man attacked a trooper after reaching dry land and was shot and killed, police said.
— Associated Press
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