Extensive flooding wreaks havoc throughout county

TURN AROUND DON’T DROWN - All lanes of the U.S. 59 bypass were closed Monday due to extensive flooding. Visit drivetexas.org for road conditions or closures statewide. TxDOT photo

By Emily Banks Wooten
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Polk County remains under a disaster declaration following severe thunderstorms Sunday night and Monday morning producing heavy rainfall that resulted in widespread flooding in low-lying areas and on roadways.

“Residents began contacting 911 in the early morning hours Monday requesting evacuation from the flooded area. The Emergency Operation Center (EOC) was activated to assist with communication and resource management. We made residents aware that we were operating with communication challenges as the EOC was without phone and main internet service as our providers worked to repair these services,” Polk County Emergency Management Coordinator Courney Comstock said.

Polk County Judge Sydney Murphy issued a local declaration of disaster and a voluntary evacuation order for the low-lying unincorporated areas along the Trinity River and below the Lake Livingston Dam.

Later Monday afternoon, however, Murphy issued a mandatory evacuation order for those areas which are vulnerable to flooding as discharge from the dam is increased – specifically, River Lake Estates, Holiday Lake Estates, Taylor Lake Estates, Route 66, Siesta Country 3 and 4 and other low-lying areas. Residents were urged to take precautions and heed the mandatory evacuation order and to avoid travel at night when visibility was limited.

The Dunbar Gym at 1103 Dunbar St. in Livingston was opened as a shelter for those evacuating and needing a place to stay and continues to remain open.

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Local and state water rescue resources were staged in the county should they be needed. Emergency management remains in contact with Trinity River Authority throughout the duration of this event, as well as with the National Weather Service regarding forecasted rainfall and river flooding throughout the week.

Severe flooding occurred downtown when Choates Creek left its banks on U.S. Business 59 and S.H. 146 resulting in motorists having to seek alternate paths. The water receded relatively quickly downtown with roadways soon becoming passable.

Livingston, Goodrich, Big Sandy and Leggett ISDs suspended classes for the day Monday with Onalaska ISD having a two-hour delayed opening and Corrigan-Camden ISD remaining open but with limited access for some bus routes.

Livingston Highline suffered widespread outage of internet communications which severely impacted both the EOC, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and 911 services. Crews worked throughout the day, eventually restoring 911 to being fully operational and restoring internet service to areas throughout the day.

As of 11:30 a.m. Monday, TRA was reporting output at the Lake Livingston Dam of 95,880 cubic feet per second (cfs). By approximately 3 p.m. Monday, the output had increased to 98,500 cfs, with the possibility of additional increases. As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, TRA was reporting the volume of water being released at 98,262 cfs, slightly lower than the previous night. They added that the water levels along the Trinity River and low-lying areas were still high and not expected to drop significantly.

The Polk County Office of Emergency Management also reminds you to take photos of the damage in and around your home for insurance documentation purposes.

The Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM) is encouraging people whose property has been damaged by severe weather or flooding to report the damage using TDEM’s Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) at damage.tdem.texas.gov. Select April 26-Ongoing Sever Weather Event. The details provided help emergency management officials gain a better understanding of the extent of damages that have occurred. The information provided from the process also helps identify immediate resource needs.