Less than six weeks following a historic 100-year flood event, The Woodlands and portions of Montgomery County were hit again with heavy rain May 26-27. The storm resulted in 150 water rescues, numerous road closures in The Woodlands, Conroe and Magnolia and 57 evacuations, according to the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management.

In response to the flooding, Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal made a local disaster declaration May 27 and submitted the same state-level request to Gov. Greg Abbott.

“As our emergency crews and first responders have assessed the initial impact from Thursday and Friday’s flooding, it is clear we have experienced widespread damages sufficient to qualify as a disaster,” Doyal said.

In Precinct 3, the heavy rains resulted in several streets underwater along with homes in the Timber Lakes/Timber Ridge subdivision just south of The Woodlands that also flooded during the April storms.

“Timber Lakes/Timber Ridge was built before [the National Flood Insurance Program] was enacted,” said Jim Stinson, general manager of The Woodlands Joint Powers Agency. “So those homes flood more often and more severely during major rain events because many of those homes were actually built below the 100-year flood level.”

High water on roadways remains a problem in Montgomery County with I-45 northbound feeder lanes at Hwy. 242 impassable. For updated road closure updates, visit www.mctxoem.org.

The heavy rainfall on May 26 also resulted in the closure of Lake Conroe for Memorial Day weekend after water levels began to rise, creating dangerous conditions.

The lake has risen to 203 inches above sea level, which is 2 feet higher than normal, according to the San Jacinto River Authority. This marks the second time Lake Conroe reached those levels this year.

Rising water levels have caused docks, bulkheads, small islands and other structures to be submerged underwater. Combined with high winds and low visibility, lake conditions are too dangerous to allow boaters and visitors to use the lake, SJRA spokesperson Ronda Trow said.

“Visibility is going to be bad,” she said. “When you have submerged objects and floating debris, and the waves are as high as they are because of the levels and wind, there are going to be things that boaters, kayakers and swimmers could potentially not see and run into.”

For more information on the historic rainfall during the last six weeks, see Community Impact Newspaper’s June 9 edition.