SURFSIDE BEACH, Texas — Tropical Storm Alberto brought heavy rain to Southeast Texas on Wednesday, leaving a mark on several coastal towns, including Corpus Christi, Surfside Beach and Jamaica Beach.
KHOU 11 News had crews in all three places, reporting on the conditions there. Below are first-hand accounts from our crews, plus the reports that were seen on KHOU 11 News Wednesday.
Surfside Beach
By Jason Miles
We spent the day in Surfside again where what’s now Tropical Storm Alberto led to tidal surge along the beach and other low lying areas.
Several drivers were forced to abandon their vehicles along some streets while homes on the west end of Surfside were difficult to safely reach.
Fortunately, no major issues were reported. In fact, some residents made the most of it by congregating at a local watering hole and even pulling a boat behind a Jeep down one slightly flooded street.
"This is not a first-time event for them and any time we get a system in the Gulf, it's going to push water up," Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta said.
While residents were left waiting for the water to recede, Sebesta said the next step is cleaning up. He said the Brazos River was already full of organic and inorganic material that ended up in the Gulf until a system like this pushed a lot of it back on shore.
Galveston Bay
I spent the day reporting along Galveston Bay visiting communities like Seabrook, Kemah and Clear Lake Shores. Several roads covered in water and impassable. Officials have barricaded them to prevent folks from driving through.
Ultimately, we made our way to Jamaica Beach for our live reporting Wednesday afternoon. It is one of the hardest hit areas on Galveston Island.
Lots of high water was flooding the neighborhood. I interviewed a man named Patrick Wilson who's here on vacation with his family from Indianapolis.
They were trapped and unable to drive out because the water was too high. We met them as they walked out to buy some groceries for the evening. They're hopeful the water continues to recede as low tide approaches later tonight.
Corpus Christi/Aransas Pass/Rockport
It started to get stormy at about 11 a.m. Wednesday in Corpus Christi. Wind speeds started picking up and a short time later it was designated as a tropical storm.
Photographer Ryan Phillips and I started to head north via Mustang Island to the location where the Corpus Christi National Weather Service said there was possibly some tornadic activity and an active tornado warning.
We took the ferry across Aransas Pass and it started to rain. We continued through Rockport, where there was residential flooding, and then on to Fulton, where the marina was under water.
It began to rain harder so we decided to leave so we wouldn’t get stuck. Driving conditions were deteriorating quickly and the roads were about 10 minutes away from being impassible.
We made it to Port Aransas for our afternoon live shots.
Once it stopped raining, visitors came out to the beach and surfers hit the water to take advantage of the high waves.
Shortly before 6 p.m., it started to pour, and the beaches were cleared.
Only a few wind surfers remained after the last round of hard showers.
Things called down by Wednesday evening, but wind speeds picked up. A Tornado Watch is in effect for Corpus Christi is in effect until 7 a.m. Thursday.
San Leon
By Anayeli Ruiz
We headed out to the San Leon area, but on our way we stopped in Dickinson and noticed the bayou was causing some minor flooding in the area. A car wash was flooded, and the water was creeping up near the back of several homes. Fortunately, those houses are up on stilts.
We then went to San Leon to Top Water Grill, a popular spot in the area. Residents told us the storm surge caused the outdoor and indoor seating to flood. Fortunately, when we arrived the water started to recede and water was no longer inside the restaurant.
We also met several people who were driving around looking at the water conditions making sure their boats, and homes were safe, but several fishing piers were already underwater.
The water was extremely choppy, but we saw several people trying to catch some fish.