Chambers County bracing for more heavy rain

With the hammering they withstood from Hurricane Harvey still fresh in mind, Chambers County makes no apology for its precautionary disaster declaration ahead of this latest menacing storm.

“Another concern is as this rain moves up north it could be flow back down into the county and possibly cause some flooding, so we are going to be watching that closely over the next few days as well,” said Ryan Holzaepfel with Chambers County Emergency Management.

With another six to 10 inches of precipitation still likely to fall, emergency mangers in Anahuac are hesitant to issue the “all clear.”

That said, there have been no reports of flooding so far and Chambers County waterways remain within their banks.

Dustin Madar recalls clearly the three feet of Harvey rainfall which invaded his home near Mont Belvieu.

“Everybody was on foot, on boats, on school buses to evacuate out of here,” said Madar.

Madar is relieved that drainage improvements made near his subdivision since the hurricane have kept the Legend’s Bay neighborhood above water after Imelda dropped her initial load.

But with more rainfall all but certain in the next 24 hours, his vigilance will only intensify.

“I doubt anybody in the neighborhood will be getting any sleep. I think everybody will be talking and watching the streets and watching the rain and praying nothing like that happens here again,” said Madar.

Holzaepfel says Chambers County was preparing for a “Harvey-like" event.

While that has yet to happen, he contends it’s always better to be “over prepared”.