Rain Gone, But Dallas Flooding Still A Problem
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The rain is gone in North Texas, but flooding is still a concern on many area roads. The biggest worry is that drivers, feeling confident in the warm and sunny weather, will continue to get stuck in high water, not realizing that it is still a severe problem.
Officials have closed many roads in northwest Dallas, and police officers are even on hand to turn drivers away. This all comes as the Trinity River continues overflowing. The area seeing the biggest flood impact is located west of Stemmons Freeway out to Luna Road, and north of Northwest Highway to Royal Lane.
This is a business area -- there are no homes feeling the impact. Still, the City of Dallas sent reverse 911 messages out to residents on Sunday to warn them about the flood risk. There were about 20 roads shut down by police by mid-Sunday. Many of those roads will remain closed until Monday afternoon, at least.
In some cases, high water kept people from getting to work on Monday. While the businesses are not flooded, the paths to them are under several feet of water.
"It's pretty frustrating when you have 70 people who can't get to work," said business owner Steve Edgemon, "and your livelihood depends on being able to work, and you can't get customers in or out. It's a little bit difficult."
"This is the route I take," employee Kennedy Tolon pointed. "I have to have a boat to get through there. It's not going to happen."
Firefighters in Dallas have made around 70 water rescues since Friday.
First responders are hoping that people will follow the barricades in place and not go around them, putting lives at risk.
Because the rain has finally stopped -- every day this week looks to be sunny -- the water level is not expected to get any higher. However, overflow from Lewisville Lake is still spilling into the Trinity River. This means that the water level in Dallas will not be dropping very quickly either.
An officer said that it could be Wednesday before the water recedes enough to make area roadways safe again.
