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UPDATE: Local elected officials and government agencies traverse county assessing damage to flooded areas

By: J. Werner
| Published 05/04/2016

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UPDATE:

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - The Montgomery County Commissioners Court meeting of May 10, 2016, voted 4-1 to apply for a FEMA grant to buy out fifty homes that have had reoccurring incidents of flooding. The fifty homes were flooded April 18, on what is being referred to as the Tax Day Flood. It is estimated that approximately 500 homes were flooded on that day and the storm that followed, April 21; 450 homeowners had already reported flood damage.

Montgomery County will apply for $13.5 million to purchase the homes at 100 percent through the 2016 Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant Program, according to the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management.

The deadline for homeowners to apply for the grant is June 15, 2016.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - It’s difficult to fathom the magnitude of the loss of a home until it hits close to home, and it couldn’t get any closer than the subdivision adjacent to The Woodlands. It’s even more heart wrenching when it’s a colleague.

Wednesday, May 4, slightly more than two weeks since flash floods ravaged the subdivisions of Timber Lakes and Timber Ridge, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management (MCOEM), Small Business Administration (SBA), and county officials along with the media, were invited into the home of resident, Sean Thomson...what’s left of it. Located east and west of Glen Loch, and south of McCullough Junior High, the debris field extends for blocks.

Thompson is one of almost five hundred homeowners across the county, whose home incurred major flood damage on April 18. A contributor to Woodlands Online, this is one article Thompson can immerse himself in.

As FEMA canvassed the county precinct by precinct, assessing the damage to request a formal declaration as a disaster area, officials stopped to talk with Thompson to hear firsthand, the events of that early Monday morning.

“The water came up so fast. I would say, about ten minutes,” said Thompson. “I told my wife to take our daughter and the pets, and get out of here. I stayed and started getting things up on the bed,” said Thompson. “We had six inches of rain in two hours; three inches per hour.” (See photo gallery link)

In a subdivision that has low-lying areas and hills, the water was anywhere from six inches to six feet high. Thompson said some neighbors woke up to water as high as their beds. At that point, they couldn’t evacuate because their cars were submerged in water.

“My high school son was over here in a boat helping with the rescue effort,” said Congressman Kevin Brady. “It was a terrible situation.”

Hear Sean Thompson discuss how the day unfolded as the flood waters were rising, in this video.

“From 10:00 a.m. to noon there was a surge, and then the water level dropped, but the rain hadn’t let up at all,” added Thompson.

What Thompson described played out all over Montgomery County, with all precincts were affected. Like the Timber Lakes Volunteer Fire Department, the East Montgomery County Fire Department performed water rescues, as many as 64, in the area around Porter, New Caney, and Splendora (Precinct 2). Water rescues were also reported in Magnolia (Precinct 2), and house flooding in Walden on Lake Conroe (Precinct 1). FEMA scheduled trips to all four precincts in the county Wednesday.

“Almost the entire county has been affected,” said Justin Breeding with FEMA. “We want to see the damage firsthand and assess it. Then we can get the request for declaration submitted for approval.”

The next step is for the state to submit what is needed and send it to D.C. Once the declaration is approved, Disaster Recovery Centers will be set up around the county. According to the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management, it’s important for those affected to report any damages due to flooding. Residents and business can register either through the MCOEM website at www.mctxoem.org/go/site/1945 or by calling 936-523-3900, but they urge people not to register twice.

“The next thing we need to do is get this debris removed,”said Darren Hess, Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator. “The school buses have had problems getting down these streets because of all this debris.”

Touring Precinct 3 with Congressman Brady and the FEMA, MCOEM, and SBA officials were County Judge Craig Doyal and Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack. Collectively they’re working for federal disaster assistance.

“I’m hopeful after having FEMA here today, we’ll get that declaration,” said Congressman Brady.

The flood victims are hopeful too.

See update on FEMA Disaster Declaration: BREAKING NEWS: Montgomery & San Jacinto Counties now included in Disaster Declaration

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