Hurricane Harvey: Rising San Jacinto River Impacting Kingwood, Humble Area Homes

HUMBLE, TX — Humble and Kingwood residents are braving the ever-rising floodwaters of the San Jacinto River, after a night of high-water rescues by Houston Fire and Houston Police personnel.

Hundreds of rescues were conducted Sunday and Monday in Kingwood as the San Jacinto River continued to rise. (Want to get daily updates about Hurricane Harvey and other events going on in your area? Sign up for the free Humble-Kingwood Patch morning newsletter.)

For More Information: Hurricane Harvey Paces Back Into The Gulf While Texans Show Resiliency

Houston City Councilmember Dave Martin, and his chief of staff, Jessica Beemer, have stayed on duty through the night coordinating information for rescues and arranging for shelter.

"We are doing rescues from all over Kingwood as it got very bad during the night. The evacuation center moved from Lone Star College to Creekwood Middle School and may move again..,” Martin said.

Kingwood High School was opened as a shelter, on Monday but later designated as a transport facility when the high school began to take on high water containing raw sewage.

Experts Warn Contaminated Floodwater Could Be Harvey's Next Threat

RELATED: Hurricane Harvey: Shelter Opens At Lone Star College-Kingwood

At 11 p.m. Monday, officials announced that the gymnasium at Lone Star College-Kingwood was the new shelter site. Humble ISD police officers and bus drivers arrived to take residents to the college, but within a few hours, the college location had to be closed too.

"Lone Star took on water last night and had a sewage backup...they are not a shelter. Creekwood is our Red Cross shelter until further notice," Martin said at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Martin said he is working to establish Kingwood Middle School as a shelter.

The Houston Police Department and the Houston Fire Department are coordinating the rescue efforts from the substation on Rustic Woods in Kingwood, managing dozens of air boats and high water rescue vehicles.

The Houston Fire Chief, Samuel Pena, tweeted that since midnight, HFD got 2,300+ calls for service, 2,000 water related and in Kingwood, 400 calls for rescue came in overnight.

The San Jacinto River Authority has posted they are releasing water from Lake Conroe at the rate of 55,138 cubic feet per second (CFS)

At 10 p.m. Monday, the San Jacinto River Authority issued this statement:

The Lake Conroe water level has now crested and is beginning to slowly decline. The current water level is 205.5 feet above mean sea level (MSL), which is 4.5’ over the normal pool elevation of 201’ MSL. The peak water level during this storm event was 206.24’ MSL. The previous record water level for the lake was 205.6’ MSL set in October of 1994. The current release rate from the Lake Conroe dam is 79,100 cubic feet per second (cfs). The previous record set in 1994 was 33,360 cfs.

Meanwhile, Kingwood residents are taking to Facebook, posting their home addresses for rescue.
There are reports of heavy flooding in both The Enclave (the subdivision behind Randall's near Town Center) and The Barrington.

The Enclave is particularly at risk since all of the homes are one story.
Residents have been moving to their attic to avoid flood waters in their homes as they await boat rescue.

Emergency responders have said to only move into your attic if you have a way to break through the roof so that you aren't trapped if water continues to rise.

Those needing immediate assistance are urged to call the Kingwood-specific rescue number 832-395-1820. This goes directly to the Kingwood command center.

Martin asked that this number be shared as far and quickly as possible. He also said his staff is monitoring Facebook for posts requesting help.

Information: Courtesy Humble Tribune

Image: Associated Press

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