Rising waters cause concern along San Jacinto

KINGWOOD, Texas (FOX 26) - Flooding concerns exist along the West Fork of the San Jacinto River as it's at a moderate flood stage, forecasted to crest Thursday evening.

It’s normal for the river to flood, but given a very abnormal hurricane questions remain if rebuilding is really worth it.

Life along the San Jacinto seems to stop as the water starts to rise. 

“Kind of a swamp-ish feel around here and being in the trees and the water, the San Jacinto being right down there," said John Wulffen who's lived close to the river for years and partially owns ZZ Gators Pub in Kingwood.

“It hasn’t crested the roads yet or anything like that, but we don’t know. We’re kind of just down here watching to see what it does," said Wulffen.

Wulffen is part-owner of Gators with his brother Peter and dad Jim.

"15 years we’ve been open," said Wulffen.

The pub hasn’t reopened since Harvey, for obvious reasons.

“Tape measure just to see the water level all the way up to the top of the lumber there [14.5 feet]. That was the water level, the bottom of that is as high as it got," explained Wulffen pointing at a stud that extends just below the roof.

While the Wulffen's restaurant was spared this flood, some areas along the San Jacinto were not, especially under the Eastex Freeway where a swifter current brought debris and furniture downstream.

“Four inches of rain or something happens and then possible flooding again. So is it really worth rebuilding or not,” asks Wulffen.

The answer is most likely yes.

The Wulffen's have been doing the work themselves; gutting, leveling, even measuring to open back up in a couple of months.

“We definitely have plans of reopening, but then we see this flood come up now and it kind of puts the thought in the back of our minds like are we stupid or what are we doing? Do we actually really open or not,” wonders Wulffen.