The National Weather Service reported that the river hit 54.49 feet (16.6 meters) at Richmond, Texas, about 4 feet (1.2 meters) above the flood record set in 1994. Evacuations have been ordered in several county areas, the website said.
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Water overflows the Brazos River onto a road in the Kingdom Heights subdivision in Rosenberg, Texas.
KVUE-TV in Austin warns that several more inches of rain are expected this week with severe flooding possible in Central Texas.
During four days of torrential rain last week, six people died in floods along the Brazos, which runs from New Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico.
Authorities in central Texas have found two more bodies along flooded streams, bringing the death toll from flooding in the state to six.
Several rivers in Southeastern Texas are experiencing major and even record flooding on roadways and homes after receiving nearly 20 inches of rain over the Memorial Day weekend. The Brazos River Authority says every single one of the 11 reservoirs fed by the swollen river are already 95 to 100 percent full.
“TDCJ officials continue to monitor the situation and are working with our state partners as the river level rises”, Clark said, noting that additional food and water had been delivered to prisons that were getting the displaced inmates and sandbags had been filled and delivered to prisons where flooding is anticipated. Lake Somerville, one of the Brazos reservoirs, was “gushing uncontrollably” over the spillway and threatening people downriver, he said.
Aerial photos from over the weekend showed large areas of the county under water. In neighboring Richmond, a voluntary evacuation order was in place.
Wolf said any additional rain in the region would be a problem.
“Some students had to sleep in their elementary school when high water prevented buses from taking them home”, John said.
In the Fort Bend County city of Rosenberg, which is next to Richmond, about 150 households were evacuated and city officials were coordinating with the county’s office of emergency management to have rescue boats in place, city spokeswoman Jenny Pavlovich said.
A string of more than a dozen flood events have affected parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri the past 15-months. Relatives have identified the boy as Devon Dean Cooley, who disappeared Friday night in Gypsum Creek.
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Tropical Depression Bonnie also dumped an estimated 8 inches of rain in southern SC on Sunday after weakening off the coast, closing a major interstate for about 16 hours.
