Mandatory evacuations ordered in Texas after heavy rain and floods

Mandatory evacuations were ordered in parts of Texas, and residents in Harris County, home to Houston, were told to be ready to stay put for days after heavy rain caused flooding.

Harris County Judge Linda Hidalgo, the county government’s top executive, declared a disaster Thursday.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered along the East Fork of the San Jacinto River, and residents were urged to leave before nightfall.

“What we’re going to see tonight and into the weekend will not be Hurricane Harvey, but we are going to see significant impacts,” Hidalgo said in a statement.

“At this time, folks in the impacted area should either prepare to stay where they are for the next 2-3 days or leave,” she said.

The American Red Cross of the Texas Gulf Coast opened shelters, and the National Weather Service warned drivers to beware, especially at night.

A section of U.S. Highway 59 in Polk was completely closed because of flooding Thursday, the state Transportation Department said. It warned drivers to “turn around, don’t drown.”

More than 7 inches of rain had fallen in parts of Harris County by 11 a.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service said. A flood watch was in effect for Houston until 7 p.m. Friday.

Heavy rain had ended by late Thursday afternoon, but the flood risk remained as water continued to drain slowly, the weather service said.

A flood warning was in effect for parts of northern Houston, including the Kingwood area, until 7 a.m. Friday, it said.

Video from NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston showed cars abandoned after having gone off flooded roads and others stuck in the high water.

No deaths have been reported in the area.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire said the release of water from Lake Conroe, north of the city, was at levels seen during Hurricane Harvey, a dayslong storm that caused catastrophic flooding in 2017.

“We have to be on alert. Full alert,” Whitmire said.

In Livingston, in Polk County about 60 miles northeast of Houston, more than 9 inches of rain had fallen by 11 a.m. Thursday, according to the weather service.

Johnathan Brown told KPRC that he, his pregnant wife and their 5-year-old had to escape their home Thursday morning after so much water entered that their refrigerator began to float.

Brown said that after everyone was safe and his wife was at the hospital, he “broke down in the end.”

“We have a baby on the way, and we just lost everything,” he told the station.

While heavy rain in Houston has ended or tapered off, the weather service said in a flood watch that conditions remain favorable for more heavy rain overnight or Friday. Around 1 to 2 inches of more rain could fall, or up to 4 inches in isolated amounts, it said.

Any new rain could either slow the receding of water or aggravate flooding, the weather service said.