Beta leaves several homes flooded in Houston

HOUSTON - The City of Houston towed 188 cars and rescued more than 30 people in high water during Tropical Storm Beta, but cars were not the only property damaged by the storm. Several homes flooded in Lettie Street south of Hobby Airport.

“It started raining, and I got nervous,” said Verna Ben, recalling Monday night at her home on Lettie Street. “When it rains like that, I get nervous. And then I looked out, and I saw the street.”

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Ben watched as the floodwaters crept towards her home. “All the way up to the door, and then it came in,” said Ben. By Tuesday she says the water had reached five inches inside her house, while the street outside looked more like a lake. Several of Ben’s neighbors told Fox 26 their homes flooded as well.

“My husband started shopping- getting it up with the dry vac and using all the towels in the house to soak it up,” said Ben. The flooding from Tropical Storm Beta is something Ben and her neighbors say they’re all too familiar with. “It always floods back here,” said Ben. “Every time a heavy rain comes, we flood.”

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“The water has nowhere to go, and that’s the biggest problem we have in this area here: the water has nowhere to go,” said Tim Armstrong who also lives on Lettie Street. “I didn’t get any water this time. I was close though.”

He says the flooding that remains is the street for several hours Wednesday is unfortunately common. “Water flows back down this way here, and it just sits and sits and sits,” said Armstrong.

City of Houston officials say a “low number” of homes flooded on the south and southeast sides of Houston. They planned to send their Department of Neighborhoods inspection team to that area Wednesday to assess the damage.