BRAZORIA COUNTY, Texas – Flood waters remain high in some areas of Houston, while other areas outside the Texas city continue to see floodwaters rise.
News4Jax's Erik Avanier is on special assignment in Brazoria County, where he’s been talking to flood victims and witnessing neighbors helping neighbors.
Residents in both Richwood and Jackson Lake are dealing with floodwaters that continue to rise and cause even more damage to homes.
“Absolute devastation," Richwood resident, Jeff Satsky said. "Absolute devastation."
“There’s not a home back there that doesn’t have water in it,” Richwood resident Rick Adaway said.
“It’s come up pretty high, but it’s never come in my house or up to my front yard like it has this time,” Richwood resident Bryan Dier said of previous flooding.
While some neighborhoods had voluntary evacuations, other had mandatory evacuations because flood waters were not only deep, but also had strong currents. News4Jax spoke to a police officer on night patrol. He was one of several officers making sure homes were being looted in the cloak of darkness. The officer held back tears as he spoke.
“It’s affecting my family and friends, people I work with and everybody I know,” Richwood Police Department Sgt. Kevin Munley said.
At one point Sunday morning, close to 100 volunteers were placing sandbags along a nearby highway to keep floodwaters from overtaking the roadway. It was during the labor-intensive effort in scorching heat and humidity that a woman collapsed while sandbagging. She was taken to an area hospital in unknown condition.
A Richwood city councilman who was working with volunteers at the spot where the woman collapsed told News4Jax that on Saturday two other volunteers had collapsed in the heat.
He also said a city worker had to be rescued by volunteers after the worker was nearly sucked under the floodwaters by a pump.