Flooding in Texas, October 17 to 28, 1998

Severe flooding revisited the Houston HSA during the month of October. The event began Saturday afternoon October 17th as train echo development across the northwest HSA. Through early Sunday morning October 18th an MCS moved slowly through the northern and western portions of the HSA producing extremely heavy rain. This same complex had moved earlier through the San Antonio area. The size and intensity of the complex along with the repeated development of heavy rains resulted in widespread average rainfall of 5 to 8 inches over the HSA. Many areas received in excess of 10 inches and over 16 inches of rain fell along the Wharton/Colorado county line. The large areal coverage of this heavy rainfall lead to widespread river flooding, some of which reached near record levels. During the day Sunday the rain moved quickly to the east producing rainfall amounts averaging 2 to 4 inches. This rainfall did not result in significant flooding.Even before the rainfall has stopped, rapid rises were occurring on several main stems and tributaries within the HSA. 5 to 7 inches of rain over the San Jacinto basin October 17th produced rapid rises during the early morning hours of October 18th. Major flooding occurred on Spring and Cypress Creeks as water spilled into surrounding communities in Montgomery and Harris Counties. A combination of heavy rain and flooding on these watersheds produced major flooding on the West Fork of the San Jacinto above Highway 59 near Humble to Lake Houston. Flooding continued from October 18th through October 23rd . On the East Fork at FM 1485 near New Caney the river went from around 5 feet, well within banks to above bankfull (15 feet) in 3 ½ hours, and to above flood stage (19 feet) 2 ½ hours later. The river remained above flood stage for almost 4 days. As a result of these flood waves emptying into Lake Houston significant flooding occurred on the San Jacinto River main stem below the lake from October 18th through October 23rd. At Highway 90 near Sheldon a rapid rise occurred on October 18th sending the river from well within banks to above flood stage (10 feet) in only 2 ½ hours. Minor flooding occurred on the West Fork of the San Jacinto River in the channel below Lake Conroe to below Porter. Minor flooding also occurred on Caney Creek near Splendora and Luce Bayou near Huffman. Crests on these watersheds were at or slightly above flood stage and generally lasted 24 to 36 hours. A rise of the East Fork of the San Jacinto near Cleveland occurred on October 18th, however, the river crested below flood stage on October 19th. As a result of this flooding thousands of homes and businesses were isolated due to road closures, 150 to 200 homes were flooded in Montgomery County, mainly along Spring Creek, in Harris County 1200 homes were affected by flooding, 291 sustained minor damage, 50 major damage and 1 was destroyed. The only death attributed to flooding occurred late Sunday night or early Monday morning when an individual drove into a flooded road along Spring Creek.Severe flooding on the San Bernard River occurred October 18th, the result of 12 to 14 inches of rain over the upper portions of the watershed. Major flooding occurred on several major tributaries, including Middle and West Bernard Creeks in Wharton County. Long time residents experienced flooding for the first time in memory. Highway 90A, which crosses the San Bernard River near East Bernard, was flooded and closed from October 20th through October 22nd. Highway 59 was closed near Kendalton for almost 24 hours. In Hungerford, Highway 59 was inundated at West Bernard Creek. The river crested near the flood of record at FM 442 near Boling. Downstream near Sweeny in Brazoria County barge traffic to the Phillips Petroleum Facility was stopped for more than a week due to high water and swift currents. Flooding continued through October 28th. The Lakeside subdivision in Brazoria County on Cedar Creek was threatened.Flooding on the Colorado River was the result of heavy rainfall and upstream flooding. In Columbus moderate flooding occurred from October 18th through October 22nd. Several roads in the Columbus vicinity were inundated and closed, an RV park on Highway 71 in northwest Columbus was flooded as well as the public golf course, and Beeson Park, near the gage. Residents in Garwood, Altair, and Eagle Lake in southern Colorado County were evacuated. Downstream in Wharton major flooding occurred from October 20th through October 24th. A near record crest was observed in Wharton as well. Several hundred residents of Wharton were evacuated to El Campo for more than 48 hours. Wharton County had homes flooded from both the San Bernard and Colorado. In all 350 to 375 homes were impacted, 4 were destroyed completely, 143 sustained major damage, and 209 received minor damage. Hundreds of head of livestock were lost and 7500 acres of crop land were damaged. 50 agricultural structures were damaged or destroyed as well as 25 pieces of equipment (tractors, irrigation equipment, etc.).Minor flooding also occurred an several rivers and creeks within the HSA. On Bedias Creek near Madisonville in Madison County brief lowland flooding occurred on October 19th. Minor flooding occurred on the Trinity River at Liberty, however no damage was reported. The Navasota River experienced minor lowland flooding from above OSR near Normangee to below Highway 30 near College Station from October 19th through October 22nd. On Middle and East Yegua Creeks minor flooding occurred from above Highway 21 to Lake Somerville from October 19th through October 25th. The impact of flooding on these watersheds were inundation of low lying areas and flooding of agricultural and pasture lands. On the Brazos River minor flooding occurred above Richmond to above Rosharon and moderate flooding from above Rosharon to below West Columbia. Significant backwater up Varner Creek in Brazoria County impacted roads into the Columbia Lakes subdivision. The Tres Palacios River in Matagorda briefly experienced minor lowland flooding in the channel above Midfield to below Highway 35 on October 19th. On East Mustang Creek in Wharton County minor flooding occurred from October 18th through October 19th. Significant rises were also observed on the following watersheds during this event; Cedar Bayou on the Harris/Liberty County line near Crosby, Chocolate Bayou in Brazoria County near Alvin, Mill Creek in Austin County near Bellville, and Cummins Creek near Columbus and Redgate Creek near Frelsburg, both in Colorado County. Crests of these floods ranged from late Sunday until Thursday as the flood waves moved toward the coast. The flooding on the San Bernard and Colorado exceeded the historical flooding of winter 1991-1992. Flooding on the Brazos was somewhat less than either the 1991-1992 flood or the October 1994 flood. Flooding on the San Jacinto and its tributaries was well below the record 1994 event.