High water prompts rescues, worries residents along Peach Creek in Montgomery County

Flood warning issued in southeast Texas counties

CLEVELAND, Texas – The National Weather Service issued a flood warning Friday for Texas, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and San Jacinto counties.

NWS said forecast flooding changed from moderate to major severity along Peach Creek near Splendora.

That is where crews in Montgomery County took part in a number of water rescues Thursday night.

Crews responded to at least two vehicles that became stranded in high water on Faulkner Road in Cleveland, then the vehicles were swept off the road near Peach Creek, officials said.

Rescuers said one person clung to a tree and another person became trapped in a car and had to be pulled from rapid water.

"We used our airboat to get out to them, as well as some live bait lines, where we send a man on a rope out to the vehicle then bring the victims back in to land or boat," said Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable Kenneth "Rowdy" Hayden.

No one was injured.

Hayden warns residents near the creek that even with the gorgeous weather Friday. no drivers are in the clear from high water just yet.

Marion Souhl lives on Faulkner Road, around the corner from where the rescue took place.

"We saw all the units go by and we didn't know what was going on," Souhl said. "When they turned around in our driveway, I asked the fellow and he said a couple of people had to be rescued."

Souhl said that Peach Creek gets full in heavy rain and some people don't realize how strong the current can be.

He raises miniature donkeys on his 30-plus acre land, and while the back part of his property was flooded, none of the animals were threatened, he said.