FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas — The Brazos River is rising about a foot each day and with rain in this weekend's forecast, the river could cause minor flooding for some parts of Fort Bend County, officials said.
The National Weather Service has issued two river flood warnings for Fort Bend County. One of those warnings is for the Brazos River at the Sugar Land/Highway 59 turnaround area. The other is for the Brazos River in Rosharon. In both of these areas, minor flooding to nearby roadways and low-lying areas is expected, but nothing major, experts said.
"For the most part, with the current forecast, it should be relatively minor," said Jeff Janacek, Fort Bend County's first assistant engineer.
Officials said the Brazos River is being impacted by last week's heavy rain, which primarily affected areas north and northeast of Houston, including the Kingwood, Conroe and Humble areas.
According to officials, the section of the Brazos River near Highway 290 in Hempstead will peak by Friday. The rainwater will make its way through Hempstead and travel to the river's San Felipe gauge, which is just upstream of I-10.
Officials said the San Felipe section of the Brazos River will peak at 118.6 feet above sea level. To put that in perspective, in January, that section of the Brazos River peaked at 117.9 when there was a flooding event.
From there, the rainwater will go down to Simonton and Valley Lodge before hitting the Richmond and Rosenberg gauge. As of Wednesday, the Richmond gauge sat at 42.5 feet. It's expected to peak at 45.0 feet on Saturday, which is the minor flood-stage threshold.
"We got a lot of history at our Richmond gauge, anybody who was here during Harvey knows, that's our primary point of focus for a lot of our flood forecast," said Janacek.
Janacek said he anticipates water approaching some local roads in Richmond, but again, just minor flooding.
The Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management is activating at Level 3 in anticipation of the low to moderate rain expected this weekend. This means the county is preparing its emergency response teams.
Fort Bend County Judge KP George is urging residents to stay informed by signing up for mobile updates via text message by texting "fbcalert" to 888777. Residents who need immediate assistance can also call 281-341-4665.