Hurricane Remnants Swamp La Grange With 8 Inches in 3 Hours

The remnants of Hurricane Pamela dumped more than eight inches of rain on La Grange Thursday morning, Oct. 14. Residents in the Round Top and Warrenton area reported rain totals upwards of 10 inches.

All that rain fell between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. Thursday. Floodwaters rose quickly in low-lying La Grange during the pre-dawn hours, stranding some motorists. La Grange Fire Chief Frank Menefee said his department began receiving calls around 5:20 a.m. from motorists in distress.

A vehicle at Washington and Fannin Street got caught in rising water. Menefee said the motorist was able to get out of the vehicle and made it to higher ground by the time firefighters arrived. A fireman took her to work. Another car stalled in the water at Jefferson and Milam Street. Firefighters received another call for a water rescue at Eblin Street, but Menefee said the water receded before firefighters got there.

“There was water everywhere, but it came down pretty quickly,” Menefee said.

Menefee knew of at least two homes that flooded in La Grange. He said about two or three inches of water entered one of the homes. He didn’t know the extent of the damage.

Floodwater rushing through Beefhead Ditch carved out a large hole in the area under construction at La Grange H-E-B, swallowing a backhoe and a utility pole in the process. Construction crews have been replacing the section of Beefhead Ditch that runs alongside the H-E-B parking lot with an underground culvert. Workers repaired most of the damage by Friday.

Kayla Crumbly, who lives on North Monroe Street near the railroad tracks in La Grange, woke up to a stack of debris that washed up against her fence. The same thing happened to her property during the flood in May. Crumbly addressed the City Council back then, saying the City needed to address drainage issues and enforce ordinances concerning brush removal.

“Here it is in October, and I haven’t seen anything done,” Crumbly told the Record on Thursday morning. “There’s an ordinance in place about yard debris.”

Crumbly said she believes the debris in her yard came from brush that others have stacked in their yards awaiting pickup. The City offers free brush pickup for one week twice a year in the spring and fall. Residents must pay a fee for the City to pick up brush at other times of the year. City ordinance states that arrangements for pickup must be made within a week after placing brush at curbside.

Crumbly said Thursday morning’s flood highlighted the reason for that ordinance.

“I have very large branches and limbs in my yard,” Crumbly said. “The street is washing away in front of my yard. What are we going to do about this?”

La Grange City Manager Shawn Raborn said Thursday’s weather was a “200-year flood event.” We’ll have more from Raborn about the flooding in Friday’s Record.