SG...The Flooded Wet Rat! Beaumont Under Water!

[opera ghost]

Kelly, those are some impressive flooding pictures!

The statement, "do not drive you car where water covers the road" is so very important.

Another one (as Jonathan pointed out yesterday)... from the National Weather Service, [the Ruskin, FL- Tampa Area office, for one, uses it.] ---> "TURN AROUND, DON'T DROWN"

Now where is my coldfront?

Here I am! ..Sorry, couldn't resist.

Unfortunetly in Houston a lot of drivers are "accoustomed" to flooding and think they know how deep the water is even when they can't see the bottom. If I turned around every time I couldn't see the road for the water- I'd have been stranded more times than I can count.

It's a good lesson that most of us ignore- especially when in familiar neighborhoods (I went through 3 patches of water that I coudln't see the road- after I watched the cars ahead of me make it to the other side LOL) but that we really should follow.

I do have to say- my car is nice and shiny now - plodding through the high water rinsed off the bottom half- and the rain washed off the upper half.

While I don't keep a rain gague- I judge water in the bayou (which I live less than a football field from) It was higher than I've seen it in years outside of Allison- at peak it was about 3-5 feet from the top of it's banks.

Anyone who doesn't know the bayous (Other places aroudn the country peek on these threads *grins*)- I'd guess mine is around 25 feet deep (lowballing it) and about 30-40 wide at the top- tapering down to about 15-20 feet wide at the bottom...with a deep channel cut in the center bottom. The channel is usually full 24/7- and in the rainy seasons there's usually 1-5 feet of water over the top of the channel. Normal rainfall keeps it in the concrete banks (around 10 feet deep) and flooding is pretty much the only way you see it deeper than that.

I'm in the inside corner of the 610 loop- SW side.

[GalvestonDuck]

Yuck! Glad you're okay now, SG.

We didn't get it as bad down here. Lots of steady rain, but not much at all in the way off flooding that I saw. Usually here at UTMB, some of the streets flood up to the doors. Didn't see any of that yesterday or last night. So I suppose it was the same everywhere here.

I saw the heavy stuff going your way on the radar and wondered how bad it might get. Now I know. :o

You can use my webbed feet anytime you wish, SG. Afterward, I'll send you a bill.

[PTrackerLA]

Wow, I had no idea how much rain fell in Beaumont! This rain event seemed very "tropical" and came down in sheets...it could also be why radars underestimated rainfall totals. Picked up around 5 inches of rain here with flood warnings for the local river!

[njoynit]

yes beaumont got lots of rain.hubby works there off MLK& i believe is 6th.he left work early cause of rain.but says cars have floated in the lot before.it rained contunously all day...all night and some this morning.I'm 79 miles north of beaumont.I got sideways in mud going down hill.rain gage says we got 4.15 here.i could hear the water running through the woods& the roads are a mess again(private dirt road...get to play on tractor saturday it seems)

[Stormsfury]

Very heavy and widespread rainfall totals estimated by Doppler Radar from Southeast Texas tonight.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/radar/latest/DS ... khgx.shtml

Right now it's showing the same times but the Lake Charles storm total is different for Beaumont than that Houson total for Beaumont. I wonder why.

Anyway, regardless, I know real totals from real folks and these don't seem to be completley accurate for all areas. Oh well, I guess it's just an estimate, right?

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/radar/latest/DS.80stp/si.klch.shtml

That's because the data coming from Lake Charles is further away than the Houston (HGX) thus with a less than stellar resolution (or an overshooting of the radar beam).

SF

[StormCrazyIowan]

Hmmmm, maybe I should whine about not getting any rain, we sure could use that much, that would put us a LITTLE closer to normal!!!! ***Don't want it all at once of course!!!***

I'm glad you all stayed safe, and those are fabulous pictures Kelly!!

[ColdFront77]

That's because the data coming from Lake Charles is further away than the Houston (HGX) thus with a less than stellar resolution (or an overshooting of the radar beam).

I was thinking along those lines, too.

[southerngale]

Thanks guys
Quite an interesting day to say the least.

Just read this so I thought I'd post it as well.

Dozens of homes in the Beaumont area flooded Thursday after steady rain fell on the Golden Triangle.
Sally MacDonald was in north Beaumont to look at some of the damage.
Several people who live on Galveston off Lucas Drive say this isn't the first, second or even third time their street and homes have flooded.
They're looking over the damage and hoping something will be done soon before another heavy rain hits the city.
It wasn't the way these kids wanted to spend their evening.
But they had no choice.
Water was surrounding their home on all sides.
Addie Hughes/Home Flooded:
"What am I going to do?"
Addie Hughes isn't the only one asking that question.
Hughes lives off Lucas Drive in north Beaumont.
Streets and dozens of homes in this neighborhood flooded.
Addie Hughes/Home Flooded:
"I had to roll my pants up."
Hughes says rainwater started pushing through the walls of her home around four this afternoon.
Her kitchen has three to four inches of water in it and the carpet in her child's room is soaked.
"The furniture is wet. Might could save it. I don't know."
"Grrrr"
Across the street, taxidermist Stanley Leger uses two pumps to keep the water from going inside his house.
He's lived here for 43 years and says he's no stranger to floods.
Stanley Leger/Lives On Flooded Street:
"It don't feel very good when you wake up in the morning and the water is ankle deep."
Leger says his water pumps help, but not enough.
He says he wants the city and county to fix the area's flooding problems.
Stanley Leger/Lives On Flooded Street:
"They're too busy making the complex, but they can't drain us."
Others in the neighborhood say they hope the rain will stop soon before even more water fills their homes.
Mike Gilliam/Home Flooded:
"We trying to get sandbags and everything else for the house."
People risked driving on flooded streets to escape the discomfort of their own homes.
Many people in north Beaumont have flood insurance.
However they say that's not enough.
Many times they lose personal, irreplaceable belongings.

[Guest]

Kelly, those are some impressive flooding pictures!

The statement, "do not drive you car where water covers the road" is so very important.

Another one (as Jonathan pointed out yesterday)... from the National Weather Service, [the Ruskin, FL- Tampa Area office, for one, uses it.] ---> "TURN AROUND, DON'T DROWN"

Now where is my coldfront?

Here I am! ..Sorry, couldn't resist.

THAT'S TOO FUNNY TOM - you got me on that one!!!!!! Looks like I'm going to be in for another round of rain this evening - look out in Central Texas - more rain.....Can't take much more.

Thanks Tom - you made my day !!!!

Patricia

[ColdFront77]

Great Patricia. Thank you very much.

I am glad I made your day.

[Stephanie]

WOW KELLY! :o

Those were some pictures! I hope that your home is alright. Did you mother's house have water up to the front door like her nieghbors?

Take care of yourself and keep us informed!

[Amanzi]

Oh Gosh! You just stay put..... That really is an huge amount of rain in such a small period of time.. stay home and stay safe.