Among the hundreds of Houston-area homes devastated by the recent flooding waters of the San Jacinto River, homeowners in Conroe’s River Plantation neighborhood are trying to move forward in their recovery efforts.
Karma Lockhart, a resident of five years, said she and her husband were rescued by boat on Saturday. When they returned, she said they found two snakes in their house and almost 6 feet of water on their first floor.
Lockhart was in her rainboots Thursday, wearing plastic working gloves and shoveling water. Her bottom floor, including her kitchen, living room, dining room and utility rooms, had about half an inch of water and mud. Lockhart and her husband had just recovered from another flood in January.
"Within three months, two times we flooded, and we lost everything twice,” she said. “New door, new floor, new cabinet, and we just finished everything in March. This time was worse because the water was so high."
Jamie Goodman, the president of the River Plantation Community Improvement Association (RPCIA), said around 200 homes were damaged by the flooding. Goodman said during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, 450 homes of the almost 1,500 in the neighborhood were affected.
Robert E. Lee Drive, where Lockhart lives, was one of the streets hit the hardest last week in River Plantation. Piles of debris lined the street Thursday on the curbs of every home.
Montgomery County officials announced Monday they had up to 350 rescues and no deaths reported at that time. Officials are still assessing the number of homes flooded in the county, which includes River Plantation.
Polk County was also impacted by floodwaters from the west fork of the Trinity River with damage to more than 700 homes and 26 reported rescues. County officials began watching the part of the San Jacinto River near the intersection of FM 1485 and Highway 99 that would soon make their way further south into neighboring counties, such as Harris County, where County Judge Lina Hidalgo made a disaster declaration.
Montgomery County residents with flood damage to their homes are asked to file claims as soon as possible at mctx.org/recover. Other Texas residents can file claims at damage.tdem.texas.gov.
State officials announced FEMA is assessing all damages and they are looking to provide federal assistance in the future.
A couple houses from Lockhart’s home, Doug Gubler was still in the process of moving into his home in River Plantation and had just returned from Utah on Wednesday when he found his home destroyed by floodwaters. His laundry machine was among one of the items sitting at his curb along with wood and other housing materials.
"I bought the home not too long ago,” he said. “I was out of town and came back (on Wednesday) and my house flooded. It was just on the floor, but I could see the water line it looks like it was up about 6 feet. It was about 4 feet on the backside. There's two levels in the home."
