Publication Date June 1, 2016 | Associated Press

Swollen river feeds flooding near Houston as residents flee

United States
Flood waters from the Brazos River surround a home in Weatherford, Texas on Friday, May 29th. Photo: Brandon Wade, AP
Flood waters from the Brazos River surround a home in Weatherford, Texas on Friday, May 29th. Photo: Brandon Wade, AP

Large swaths of suburban communities southwest of Houston were underwater and hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes before the Brazos River reached 54.37 feet in Fort Bend County, just two years after it had run dry in places because of drought.

During four days of torrential rain last week, at least six people died in floods in Texas.

Scott Overpeck, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said that the Brazos will recede in the coming days but that its levels will remain high for up to three weeks, in part because water will need to be released from swollen reservoirs upriver...

Four of the six people killed in flooding were recovered in Washington County, which is between Austin and Houston, County Judge John Brieden said Monday. Lake Somerville, one of the Brazos reservoirs, was "gushing uncontrollably" over the spillway and threatening people downriver, he said