Riata Ranch neighborhood gets hit hard by flooding

HOUSTON – The images tell the story.

The Riata Ranch community is inundated with floodwater, leaving many people stranded, helpless and, in several cases, in need of rescue.

Byron Mitchell was one such person who had to be plucked from his home along with many others.

"It got pretty bad, a lot of water everywhere," Mitchell said. "We didn't have time to think that far, just grabbed a couple of things and got out to help."

While pictures from high above give the scope of the flooding here in the Riata Ranch subdivision, those taken on the ground by boat show the sheer impact and just how high the water has risen.

"We've removed about 40 families so far, and it appears we have about 10-15 more families, but we keep getting more calls," Brian Shirley with the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department said. "Usually it's a short-term event: you have high water for a few hours and it goes away. This one, it looks like we're going to be out here for a few days."

Now, the waiting game for the water to recede and the long cleanup process finally begins.

"You're just in shock," Jacob Elrod, whose neighborhood was flooded, said. "You see people stuck on their porches and you can't really do anything."