Rain gone but flooding continues in North Texas

In ankle deep water, Mary Ford used a rake Friday to search for soaked items in what was once part her back yard.

Now the yard is part of Lake Worth, which continues to creep toward the back of her home.

“It’s already in my laundry room,” Ford said Friday afternoon. “I’ve got about 8 inches before it’s in my home.”

Though the sun is shining and the skies are blue, rivers and lakes are continuing to swell after heavy rains earlier this week.

For the residents of low-lying homes around Lake Worth and Eagle Mountain Lake, the rising waters are nothing new.

Just last month, Lake Worth had flooded Ford’s yard, only to stop just short of seeping inside her home.

This time, she may not be as fortunate.

Officials are projecting that Lake Worth could rise another 10 inches before it crests Saturday night, which may mean water would work its way into three to five homes. At Eagle Mountain Lake about six homes could be flooded. The lowest house on Eagle Mountain Lake had been flooded by Friday morning.

“There's going to be some that are real close,” said David Marshal, the Tarrant Regional Water District’s director of engineering and operation support.

If projections are correct, Eagle Mountain will be about a foot higher than it was last month — the highest its been since 2004 — and Lake Worth will be about 1.7 feet higher.

“The whole area just has a tremendous amount of water to get rid of,” Marshall said.

Around Lake Grapevine, city officials remained hopeful that nobody would be flooded at three apartment complexes near the Grapevine Mills shopping mall. On Thursday, the city warned that residents River Walk, Marquis and Mustang Ridge might have to evacuate but those fears have lessened.

“We're not concerned with water entering the apartments,” said Grapevine spokeswoman Mona Burk. “We do have those residents on alert in case anything else happens. The water remains very high on some roadways.”

Farm Road 2499 remains closed until further notice and the Army Corps of Engineers warned any residents who live along Denton Creek in Grapevine, Flower Mound, Coppell and Carrollton to pay close attention to floodwaters.

‘Businesses impacted’

“We have some businesses impacted and upstream on Denton, we have some homes where the levels are close to the 100-year flood level,” said Clay Church, a corps spokesman.

Lake Worth, Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Bridgeport are all closed to boating and water recreation is strongly discouraged on all corps lake in the DFW area.

Lake Benbrook was expected to crest over the spillway, forcing the closure of Lakeside Drive from Winscott Road to Pecan Valley Drive until at least Monday. But the flows coming over the spillway were expected to be light compared with what was coming from other corps lakes.

Further north, the Red River was expected to crest at a record 42.05 feet Friday afternoon near Gaineville. A flood warning remains in effect until Monday afternoon and the Red River is about 2 feet higher than the May 31, 1987, flood.

This story was originally published June 19, 2015 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Rain gone but flooding continues in North Texas."