LIBERTY COUNTY, Texas — After recent heavy rainfall, some residents in Liberty County are still dealing with extreme flood conditions.
Air 11 captured video of several homes surrounded by high water in communities along the Trinity River near Cleveland on Tuesday afternoon.
In New River Lake Estates, fast-moving flood waters washed away part of the county road that leads into the subdivision. Angie Yarbrough said she was forced to use a boat to get food and supplies to her home.
“The rapid rise of the water was like Harvey on steroids,” she said. “It is the most devastating, catastrophic thing I’ve seen in my life and I’ve seen quite a few floods down here."
To make matters worse, neighborhood septic systems flooded multiple times while some residents have been without electricity for two weeks according to Yarbrough. The longtime Liberty County resident said she fears it could take weeks for the flood waters to recede enough for county officials to construct a temporary road.
“People down here are beginning to lose hope, we want our county officials to say, 'It's OK, we’re coming for you, we’re going to help you,' but I feel abandoned,” she said.
Liberty County Precinct 2 Commissioner Greg Arthur told KHOU 11 he would evaluate the road conditions Tuesday evening and again on Wednesday morning.
Yarbrough explained Tuesday that flooding after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 led some of her neighbors to leave the subdivision and accept buyout offers from the county. She said current flood conditions may have finally convinced her to live elsewhere.
“I know that some of us are going to have to go, we’re going to have to give up our lives here, it’s a hard thing to deal with,” she said.
A few miles south of New River Lake Estates, neighbors in the Preserve of Texas are also experiencing lingering floods. A bridge leading into the community was completely flooded on Tuesday and inaccessible by car. However, we did spot a large tractor carrying residents and supplies across the bridge. Resident Twana Sullins said she and her family had to be rescued from their home in early May and have not returned since.
“Most everybody out there has lost everything they had. It’s a really bad situation and everybody needs some sort of help,” she said.
With more rainfall expected in the greater Houston area on Thursday and Friday, communities along the Trinity River are slated for even more flooding this week.