Saving people and cattle along flooded Texas river

LA Times:

Rural riverfront communities in Texas have grown accustomed to flooding -- elevating homes and investing in boats, jet skis and all-terrain vehicles to weather the inevitable storms.

But how do you weatherproof hundreds of head of cattle?

About 40 miles northeast of Houston, ranchers were using an air boat to corral and feed a herd of about 500 cattle after they became stranded by flooding Saturday along the Trinity River that turned their pasture into an island outside the city of Liberty.

“That’s about $1 million in cows,” said Tom Branch, Liberty County emergency management director. “They’ve been trying to get them out of there for days.”

First by truck, then by power boat, man rescues Texas flood victims

The Trinity River bisects Liberty County, where about a dozen subdivisions with roughly 600 homes sprang up along the river, mostly elevated homes. So far Saturday, none had flooded, Branch said. About half the residents evacuated. Officials opened a shelter, but only a dozen people stayed overnight.

“Most people just take care of themselves along the river,” Branch said.

But he was concerned about several inches of additional rain expected late Saturday.

“I hope we don’t get that serious rain. Any kind of rainfall over the river creates more problems,” he said.
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There is more.

The Saturday rain veered south of my part of Texas and hit Houston hard again.  The drainage systems appear to be working for the most part, but the rising rivers are a threat.   The Brazos River is barely contained at this point.  It is only inches away from flood stage at Texas 105, and dowstream some areas are already being evacuated.