http://www.dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/389280_storms_09tex.A.html

Allison's remains return to Houston, flood roads

I-45 closed as storm deluges southeast Texas

06/09/2001

Associated Press

HOUSTON – Torrential rains from the remains of Tropical Storm Allison renewed the pounding of the Houston area Friday night, swamping freeways and inundating some areas that had escaped much of the deluge earlier this week.

Montgomery County, immediately north of Houston, appeared to be the hardest hit in the latest storms. Interstate 45, the main north-south highway out of Houston, was closed just south of Conroe to Willis – a stretch of more than five miles – because of high water.

"We've got a massive traffic jam on the freeway," Sheriff Guy Williams said.

Some of those stuck in traffic were parents on the way to pick up their children from a Girl Scouts camp in Conroe. Conroe Deputy Chief Joe Scarborough said everyone was safe at the camp.

Some cars were reported abandoned under highway overpasses with windshield-deep water.

Just east of Houston, in Channelview, an estimated 7 inches of rain had fallen in a three-hour period late Friday, the National Weather Service said. A portion of Interstate 10 near Channelview was closed.

Nearly 19 inches of rain had fallen there over four days. Many other areas in the southern and western parts of Harris County had nearly a foot of rain.

Earlier Friday evening, several funnel clouds were spotted and tornado warnings were posted, but no damage from the twisters was reported.

Montgomery and Walker counties, farther north, were under flash-flood warnings, joining Harris, Brazoria and Fort Bend counties, encompassing most of metropolitan Houston, as rain pelted saturated ground and overwhelmed sewer systems. More than a dozen counties in southeast Texas were under flash-flood watches.

The weather service said creeks, bayous and feeder roads could flood quickly in the storms.

"We're so saturated right now, the only place to go is up," said Frank Gutierrez, operations manager for the Harris County Office of Emergency Management.

According to the Southwestern Insurance Information Service, private insurers were bracing to pay more than $65 million in damage claims across southeast Texas. The figure did not count damage to hundreds of flooded homes, which must be covered by separate federal flood insurance.

"This figure represents damage caused by wind-driven rain to homes and businesses and flooded vehicles," said Jerry Johns, president of the organization.

Mr. Johns said he expected the damage estimate to increase once the weather improves.

Though the center of circulation was deep into Texas, the worst weather Friday occurred in Louisiana as the system kept drawing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and dumping it on the Pelican State.

Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster declared emergencies in 11 southern parishes that have suffered beneath more than a foot of rain this week, flooding homes and roadways.

In waterlogged New Orleans, Mayor Marc Morial let nonessential city workers off for the day as neighborhoods and residents fought off flooding and police officers in the suburbs kept motorists off roads clogged by standing water.

State officials did not have an estimate of damage, but reports from the 19 worst-hit parishes indicated widespread misery.

The American Red Cross reported that 584 homes in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes, southeast of New Orleans, were flooded Friday.

Meanwhile, the Louisiana National Guard brought in troop carrier trucks to evacuate hundreds of people living along the Comite River north of Baton Rouge. The river spilled over its banks Friday and was expected to crest over 10 feet above flood stage by Friday night.

The Comite was not the only river flowing over its banks.

"A lot of the rivers and streams are really at capacity," said Matt Farlow, an operations officer with the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness.

The Vermilion River, flowing through Lafayette, crested about 5 feet over flood stage Friday and flooded homes, Iberia Parish sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Delahoussay said.

"It's over flood stage, and we're starting to have problems in the city," she said.

Baton Rouge, the state capital, reported more than 16 inches of rain since the storm began, with more anticipated. The National Weather Service reported that eastern Liberty County, in southeast Texas, had gotten 25 inches since June 1.

Officials were keeping an eye on the flood-prone Trinity River in Liberty County and Luce Bayou near Huffman, in far northeast Harris County. Both waterways were expected to exceed their banks this weekend.

Lowland roads near Pine Island Bayou around Sour Lake, in far southeast Texas, were flooded. Three homes were in jeopardy of flooding if stream-flow levels rose as forecast.

An office building in Palestine, about halfway between Houston and Dallas, partially collapsed Friday when rainfall weakened its brickwork. No one was injured.

Allison formed unexpectedly just off the southeast Texas coastline Tuesday, when a storm cluster rapidly intensified, then moved ashore that night. It was classified as a tropical storm for fewer than 24 hours.

The system moved out of the Houston area Wednesday and originally was forecast to spin toward Louisiana and Arkansas, but it stalled in East Texas and began retreating Thursday.

-- (in@the.news), June 09, 2001

Answers

Houston Chronicle: "Catastrophic flooding forces state of emergency for area"

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.hts/topstory2/936380

-- (in@the.news), June 09, 2001.

http://www.click2houston.com/hou/news/stories/news-81284720010610- 080634.html

ATM Access Affected By Houston Floods

76,000 ATMs May Be Affected

HOUSTON, 8:22 a.m. CDT June 10, 2001 -- Banking officials say the weekend flooding in Southeast Texas may affect ATMs in 22 states, including Texas. Officials say about 76,000 ATMs may be affected. Access to ATMs in the PULSE network was disrupted when the primary and secondary power supplies were flooded in Houston, according to PULSE spokesman Julian Read. PULSE is a non-profit electronic funds transfer network.

Read says that about 300,000 point-of-sale transactions -- using an ATM at a cashier -- also may be affected.

Officials are trying to switch operations to a processing center in Dallas. PULSE anticipates the majority of the system to be operational sometime Monday. PULSE says that the system should be fully operational early in the week.

Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

-- (in@the.news), June 12, 2001.