Monitoring potential weekend flood event for Houston area

HOUSTON (FOX 26) — The Harris County Flood Control District says that most Houston-area bayous can handle around four and a half inches of rain, but there’s a possibility we could see more rain than that by Saturday.

The time of year is one reason there’s so much concern over the predicted rain event.

The soil is saturated and that could cause levels of area creeks and bayous to rise significantly.

The northern part of Harris County is being monitored closely.

"The San Jacinto Watershed, the west fork and east fork, also Cypress Creek, Willow Creek and Cedar Bayou,” said Jeff Linder, meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District. “Those are the watersheds we are the most concerned about at this time.”

"People should stay off the roads if at all possible Friday night," said Francisco Sanchez, public information officer for the Harris County Homeland Security & Emergency Management. “If they do find themselves in high water locations, turn around and don’t drown.”

If at all possible, you’re being asked to remove leaves from storm drains and ditches around your home and neighborhood.

"We’ve had our first freeze and we have leaves on the ground," added Lindner. "We have leaves in gutters, we have leaves in ditches."

Harris County Homeland Security & Emergency Management staff will report to Houston TranStar at around 3 p.m. Friday and will remain there monitoring the situation until the threat of flooding is over.