Flash Floods In Everman Damage Homes, Vehicles; Some Residents Displaced
EVERMAN, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Heavy rain and flash flooding caused major issues for North Texans, especially for residents in Everman who had to deal with floodwaters in their homes. Families are still trying to dry out after several feet of water flooded homes Friday evening.
The people in the small town just south of Fort Worth are pulling together to help one another. They said even though possessions were lost, what matters most is they survived.
In the streets of Everman, the signs of floods have come and gone, but the damage is more visible inside homes.
"Got some water coming out there... you can see the floor there. It's all piled up in the yard too... everything happened like that," said resident Jimmie Reason as he pointed out the damage in his home.
Reason watched around midnight as water came into his home. It started out as an inch but then grew to a foot -- and it just kept growing.
"You can see the water this deep right here. This is how deep it was all through my house," Reason said as he measured how deep the water was in his home.
Resident Scotty Smith said he had to climb out of his front window to try and get to higher ground.
"I came through this window and of course the water was way up here," he said. "We got out and grabbed our dogs and took off down that away. "
He said he started wading through waist deep water with his sister.
"She was hollering for help and she just quit hollering and it scared me," Smith said. "I thought she drowned."
A neighbor noticed she was struggling to hold on to a tree.
"I told her you don't leave," he said. "I told her you hang on to that tree and don't let go."
The two waited for the water to go down and then went back to a water-logged home.
"It was truly a flash flood, pure definition of a flash flood. Water had risen to approximately six feet at the highest point, reaching into homes," said Craig Spencer.
Spencer said when Chambers Creek started to overflow its banks, police and firefighters started to receive 911 calls.
"They were helping each other up on the roofs, helping each other up on houses," said Spencer.
However, it wasn't easy for responders to get to the residents.
"The rain was coming down so hard, it was hard to see out the windshield," said Spencer.
Everman is in a flood plain, but the worst Spencer recalled was a foot or two of water. This neighborhood saw six feet of water Friday evening.
Forty-five homes and at least 20 vehicles were ruined by the floodwaters.
"It was just a bad dream. A bad dream," said Reason.
Reason said he's thankful no one was injured from the floods.
"Just things. We'll rebuild as a family and neighborhood and friends and look back in about a year from now and think, 'Man, that wasn't that bad,'" said Reason.
With some residents unable to return to their homes for now, the Red Cross is helping about 15 people find a temporary place to stay.
On Saturday morning, the city set up a disaster relief station at the City Hall annex. Police are encouraging everyone affected by the flooding to check in at that location for assistance.
