Missouri City and Sugar Land residents face flood threats from continued rain and a swelling Brazos River.[/caption]Missouri City and Sugar Land officials are telling residents to keep track of the rainy weather and to stay away from dangerous threats, including the Brazos River.
As of June 1, the river had reached a level of 54.61 feet while the National Weather Service predicted a crest at 53.5 feet, according to Missouri City’s website. That is the highest level the river has reached since 1913, according to the Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management website.
On Sunday, Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen issued a voluntary evacuation for some residents. The city listed the Lake Olympia subdivisions and homes in Quail Valley as those particularly at risk and the city has closed off multiple flooded roads.
Cory Stottlemyer, Missouri City media relations specialist, said some residents were notified they could return on a case-by-case basis.
“What we’ve been doing is monitoring the rain forecast because any additional rain right now is just going to expedite the situation,” Stottlemyer said.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for the area, including Missouri City and Sugar Land, through June 3.
Stottlemyer said the flooding has concerned city officials because early voting for the June 11 Missouri City Council Position 2 runoff took place this week. The Quail Valley Golf Course is also closed.
Meanwhile, Sugar Land officials are warning area residents to avoid the Brazos River.
“It’s a dangerous place,” said Doug Adolph, the assistant director of communications of Sugar Land.
He said residents tend to want go and see the swelling river, but he cited strong, unpredictable water currents and loose soil as potential dangers.
“It’s not a stretch to say it would be easy for somebody to fall in,” he said. In addition, he said wildlife including alligators and poisonous snakes have been displaced.
Adolph said there would be a risk for street flooding if there was a lot of rain in a short period of time, however.
“Our drainage ditches are not at capacity, but they’re pretty full, so we still have capacity in the city to handle a moderate to heavy rainfall but if it’s sustained over a period of time we would be looking at a possibility of street flooding in our city and obviously residents would need to take necessary precautions.”
He said the city does not expect evacuations, voluntary or mandatory. The city canceled its Memorial Day celebration as Memorial Park flooded.
“Our levees will hold and they’ll have plenty of capacity for where we expect the river to crest and there are no evacuations planned in Sugar Land,” he said.
