Continuous rainfall damages, closes several East Texas roads
SMITH COUNTY, Texas (KETK) — Continuous days of rain have pummeled East Texas this week and the roads are paying the price, according to officials.
Cloudy water found in Lufkin is safe to drink, city officials say
'We've seen a lot of damage to the roads, the rain, just the sheer amount of rain we've had,' Smith County Commissioner Precinct 2, John Moore said.
The rain left its mark by closing at least five roads in Smith County on Wednesday. The rain is also affecting already damaged roadways, according to Moore.
'You had roads that were compromised because of gophers, leafcutter ants, and other things that nature puts on our roadways, that's bad enough, but some of this flooding has been bad enough that it really wouldn't have mattered what was going on,' Moore said.
He explains that the amount of rain is too much for the already saturated areas, leading to compounding road damage.
'It's just too much water and it causes a lot of damage,' Moore said.
2025 State of Economy event held in Longview discuss new laws to help East Texans
It's not only been an issue for the county, but roads maintained by the state. The Texas Department of Transportation shared it's been preparing for these continuous rainy days, saying it all starts with road planning.
'There's a lot that goes into it,' TxDOT Public Information Officer Jeff Williford said. 'You know, any time we have a new roadway or new construction project, one of the things we look at is drainage.'
TxDot has crews monitoring, evaluating and closing down roads along with weekly maintenance on bridges and culverts in the area to prevent future harm.
'If a road does flood or if there is high water, our crews will be there,' Williford said. 'They'll be monitoring the situation. We'll have our lights on, our blue and yellow lights warning drivers.'
Williford urged drivers to stay aware with the continued downpour.
Historic Marshall church begins demolition process
'Be extra careful, and for certain don't try to cross over a flooded road or drive through rushing water,' Williford said. 'It can be very powerful. Flash flooding is the leading weather-related cause of death in Texas.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
Flood victims recover in Palo Pinto County, firefighters rescue 10
Joseph Kidwiler can't say what it was, but it woke him up around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The husband and father of three said he was oblivious to flash flooding until it was too late. "I put my foot down off the bed, and I felt water. So I told my wife to get up. It's time to go somewhere," he said. When his family went to their porch, water was everywhere. They had to wait for the Santo Volunteer Firefighters and other departments to respond and help them off the porch, onto a truck, and to safety. "So we slow down. Everyone's got to take a deep breath. The instinct is to rush because we want to go help somebody. But we have to take our time. We don't know what's under the water," Kent Farquhar said. Farquhar is the Deputy Chief for the 14-member department. He's proud of their response to the intense calls. "We came over the railroad tracks and noticed about four feet of rushing water. And when I say rushing water, it was probably moving 10 to 15 miles an hour at the minimum," he said. Tommy's Convenience Store, located at 13850 S FM 4, appeared to be sinking into water. Video from the volunteer fire department showed high water rushing. Farquhar said the water was as high as four feet. The rescues were on Panama Road and East Oak Street. Two vehicles were also involved. Palo Pinto County Office of Emergency Management officials said no disaster declaration had been issued. But tell that to Tommy's, where they are still cleaning up mud, and to Kidwiler, who is being strong for his family. "We lost about 20 chickens and one goat. And we find a neighbor has about 30 cats, and we've been finding cats are dead in the yard and everywhere else," Kidwiler said.
CBS News
4 hours ago
- CBS News
At least 5 dead, 2 missing in San Antonio after rapid flooding
Five people have been found dead and two others are missing in San Antonio, Texas, after heavy rains caused flooding on highways throughout the city, authorities said Thursday. Heavy overnight rains led to water rescue calls just after 5 a.m. in northeastern San Antonio, near the city's Perrin Beitel neighborhood. The San Antonio Fire Department confirmed in a news release that five people were confirmed dead and two were unaccounted for. Two men and two women were among those found dead, according to CBS affiliate KENS-TV. There were no further details about the fifth victim. The identities of the victims have yet to be released, but one of the victims was identified as a 77-year-old woman, according to KENS. The fire department believes that those rescued or located were initially in their cars sitting in traffic, but by the time emergency crews arrived, they had ended up in trees due to water flooding their vehicles. Multiple damaged cars are seen in flood waters Thursday, June 12, 2025, after heavy rains overnight in San Antonio. Jessica Phelps / AP Fifteen cars were washed away, and 10 people were rescued, according to the fire department, which said it responded to at least 70 water rescues Thursday. Of the 10 rescued, four were taken to hospitals with minor injuries. The fire department called the response an "extremely difficult rescue effort that covered multiple miles." The search is ongoing for the two people who are believed to have been swept away in the floodwaters, the agency said. "While the majority of the water rescue responses were not severe in nature and consisted of our crews assisting drivers from vehicles that were stalled in high water, several of these calls were harrowing and involved our crews entering swift moving water to effect rescues," the fire department said in its release. A damaged car is seen in flood waters Thursday, June 12, 2025, after heavy rains overnight in San Antonio. Jessica Phelps / AP One woman, Angel Richards, told KENS 5 that her husband, Stevie, was on his way to work when he called to say he was caught in the floodwaters. "It's hard because I was on the phone when this happened, and then not to have a lot of communication, to see my car, it's devastating to me," Richards told KENS 5. "No one can say to me, 'Hey, this is what's going on.'"
Associated Press
8 hours ago
- Associated Press
At least 4 dead and 2 missing in San Antonio after heavy rains flood parts of Texas
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Heavy rains in San Antonio rapidly flooded roads, swept away submerged cars and sent some people scrambling up trees to escape fast-rising waters Thursday while firefighters made dozens of rescues across the nation's seventh-largest city. At least four people died and two were still missing, authorities said. The deaths all occurred in the northeast part of the city, where authorities found over a dozen vehicles in the water. Photos and video showed smashed and overturned vehicles submerged in a creek. Some of the people rescued in that area said they were swept off an interstate access road by 'sudden fast rising water,' San Antonio Fire Department spokesperson Joe Arrington said in an email. He said floodwaters swept vehicles into a creek and carried them downstream. Crews were bringing in search dogs Thursday afternoon to help find missing people, Arrington said. By afternoon, crews could be seen pulling heavily damaged vehicles out of the creek. Calls for water rescues began before sunrise, officials said. Two women and two men were found dead, according to police Chief William McManus, who did not have their ages. 'There were several people that were caught in that water that had climbed up into trees and we did do a couple of rescues out of trees and some rescues out of vehicles,' said fire department spokesperson Woody Woodward. From midnight to 8 a.m. the fire department made 65 water rescues, officials said. Ten people were rescued in the same area as where people were found dead, including four people who were taken to the hospital for injuries. The flooding occurred after a round of slow-moving showers and thunderstorms in the San Antonio area during the early morning hours Thursday, said Eric Platt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Over 7 inches (17 centimeters) of rain fell in parts of the San Antonio area, according to the weather service. By midmorning, flooding was receding, though Platt noted that rain was still falling in some areas. He didn't expect additional rain to be as heavy as overnight but said anything that falls on saturated ground can lead to flooding. ___ Stengle reported from Dallas.
