In a panicked tweet today, officials in Brazoria County warned that a levee at Columbia Lakes – about 50 miles from Houston – had been breached by floodwaters.
The county’s twitter account urged any residents who had not already evacuated the area to leave immediately, writing: “GET OUT NOW!!”
A levee is an embankment built to prevent the overflow of a river.
Matt Sebesta, the chief administrator of Brazoria County, urged residents of the Columbia Lakes neighborhood to leave as soon as they can – or else face being stranded if the waters hit.
He told reporters: “They need to get out. Get to higher ground in Angleton.”
The breach comes after floodwaters toppled over Addicks Reservoir, located about 19 miles west of downtown, sending an “uncontrolled release” of water into nearby neighborhoods.
Many other Houston reservoirs that have contained heavy rains from Tropical Storm Harvey are also starting to overflow, forcing authorities to release more water into the city’s swollen drainage system.
Flood control official Jeff Linder has admitted the water levels have now surpassed the height of the reservoir edge.
He said that the difficulty they’ve experienced in releasing water from the reservoirs is “something we’ve never seen before”.
County officials are monitoring six neighborhoods around the reservoirs and encouraged residents in those areas to evacuate before the water levels rise.
Widespread flooding is also expected near the Brazos River.
County spokeswoman Sharon Trower said about 90% of flooding in the central and western part of the county is from rainwater, as opposed to the river.
She added: “We’ve got a lot of low-lying areas that are experiencing flooding.
“When the river starts to come out of its banks, that’s when we’re going to have the biggest issues.”
It is believed Tuesday’s rainfall could reach 12 inches (30cm), bringing the total rainfall from Harvey to about 50 inches.
Heavy floods have ravaged the America’s second largest state for days, with thousands forced to flee their homes.
So far, nine people are believed to have lost their lives as a result of the horrendous conditions.
Storm Harvey has caused destruction in Texas and is now affecting Louisiana.
US President Donald Trump set off for Texas today to survey the response to the devastating tropical storm, the first natural disaster of his White House tenure.
The slow-moving storm has brought catastrophic flooding to Texas, killed at least nine people, led to mass evacuations and paralyzed Houston, the fourth most-populous US city.
Some 30,000 people were expected to seek emergency shelter as the flooding entered its fourth day as thousands more have had to be rescued from their homes.
MORE TO FOLLOW…