HOUSTON Flooded rivers fail to faze some residents

Associated Press

ROSENBERG, TEXAS

The seemingly ceaseless rain has ended in North Texas and Oklahoma, but residents in the greater Houston area warily eyed the swollen Brazos River and the skies, which threatened to drop up to 5 additional inches of rain late Saturday afternoon and evening.

At least 31 people have been killed in storms that began in Texas and Oklahoma over Memorial Day weekend. Twenty-six of the deaths have been in Texas alone, and 11 people were still missing Saturday.

The Brazos River southwest of Houston was the main area of concern Saturday as floodwaters moved from North and Central Texas downstream toward the Gulf of Mexico. Floyd Preston’s home in the Houston suburb of Rosenberg is about 100 yards from the flooded river and three houses from a police barricade marking the evacuation zone.

“I’m going to stay for the time being. This is not the first time for a flood,” the 66-year-old said.

Earlier in the week, the Colorado River in Wharton and the San Jacinto River near Houston were threatening homes, but the National Weather Service said both are expected to recede below flood stage by today.

In Central Texas, about 2,000 volunteers and 100 members of an elite search-and-rescue team looked for a group of people whose vacation house was swept away in a massive flood on the Blanco River.