Liberty County rallies in flood response

LIBERTY COUNTY — A week after endless rainfall and record-setting dam releases rose to historic levels, sweeping the area with historic flooding, things finally appear to be looking up.

Now, officials are celebrating the resilience of the community, the first responders, community volunteers, and the spirits of those most impacted by the flooding.

“The beautiful part of Liberty County is the resiliency that everybody comes together and helps whenever there’s a crisis of this nature,” said Liberty County Judge Jay Knight.

Major flood concerns grew last week as rain to the north and across the county pummeled the area, which raised concerns about Lake Livingston, leading to record dam releases.

The dam released over 124,000 cfs at its highest, well above the previous record levels during Hurricane Harvey. The release rate only dropped below previous records on Tuesday, nearly a week after exceeding 110,000.

The river crested at 32.41 feet at the US Highway 90 bridge on Monday, less than three inches below the record of 32.7 feet, also set during Harvey.

While the Trinity caused issues for most of the county, the East Fork of the San Jacinto River wreaked havoc on the north side, bringing heavy flooding to the area, including Plum Grove and portions of Colony Ridge.

Local government bodies and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared disaster declarations last week, with many meeting in emergency sessions this week to extend those decrees.

“Even in a heart- wrenching event like the catastrophic storms and floods we have witnessed in East Texas, we have also seen the resiliency of Texans who are willing to lend a helping hand to protect their fellow Texans,” Abbott said on Monday.

That resiliency has undoubtedly been tested across the county, with road closures, including US Highway 90 between Liberty and Dayton, out of safety concerns. It has since been eased with the roadway reopening Tuesday afternoon.

That closure brought travel issues to the area already impacted by impassable arteries to the south and the closure of FM 787.

Early Tuesday, reports broke that the Trinity River Bridge at FM 787 had seen a partial collapse from a washout underneath that closed the roadway a day earlier.

Over the past week, continuing highwaters have caused more and more residents to call for help as they fled the impacted areas, with many seeking shelter elsewhere, whether with family in motels or, in many cases, shelters that have been set up.

In the Cleveland area, Calvary Baptist Church has served evacuees since last week and has remained active as it works to assist those in need in conjunction with the American Red Cross.

According to LCSO Chief Deputy Billy Knox, there have been 183 water rescues across the county since Tuesday morning. However, the number is likely higher, with other groups performing rescues outside of the scope of the LCSO.

Nearly half of those rescues came on the county’s northern end, where Liberty County Constable Pct. 6 Zack Harkness serves. He also applauds the community’s support during the crisis but hopes to address what he believes is a need for more safety equipment.

Harkness said they are working with shelters and supply distributions at Calvary Baptist and the Santa Fe Community Center in Colony Ridge.

“We are working with the Houston Humane Society to do a dog/ cat food and possible vaccination clinic next week,” Harkness said.

As waters begin to recede to the north, waters further south are still causing road closures and leaving families stranded.

Liberty County Commissioner Pct. 1 Bruce Karbowski and his crews continue to work diligently and keep residents aware of closures while assisting rescue efforts and providing assistance at the Jack Hartel Building, where a shelter had been set up in Liberty.

According to Knight, the shelter is not at capacity and has room for those displaced by the storm.

Knight praised all those stepping up to assist residents, especially the volunteers.

“We also need to give a big shout- out to the Volunteer Fire Departments. There are 16 of them in the county, and these guys are volunteers. They are doing this because of their compassion and what they want to do to help people; they need a big thank you,” Knight said.

Schools have been impacted significantly over the last two weeks, with schools in Cleveland ISD being the first to see major issues, followed by other districts across the county.

Liberty ISD was able to open briefly last Thursday but was forced to have an early release and has not been open this week. Dayton, Hardin, Tarkington, Hull-Daisetta, and Devers were back open along with CISD by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Anyone impacted by flooding throughout the county is asked to report damages to the Texas Department of Emergency Management. You can visit damage.tdem.texas. gov to report issues.

Efforts continue around the clock to assist those needing shelter, food, cleaning supplies, and other essentials as officials work to get things under control and eventually clean up.

“The main thing now is to have some understanding and compassion for the people that have been affected,” Knight concluded.