Brazos River floods in Parker County

Bart Salter was spending Monday watching the Brazos River rise.

After Monday’s kayak ride through the flood-prone Parker County neighborhood of more than 1,000 homes, Salter said the water was beginning to take its toll.

Officially, the Brazos was projected to crest at 27.2 feet on Tuesday, less than the 27.55 feet during the last major flood on June 29, 2007 and well below the record crest of 31.88 feet on Oct. 14, 1981.

“It looks like a war zone out there,” Salter said. “We’ve got propane tanks floating and water probably in about 115 homes. It’s getting pretty bad.”

Water covered the roadway and filled low-lying areas of the southwestern Parker County neighborhood surrounded by the Brazos on three sides. Normally, the river is about 125 yards away from Salter’s home. On Monday afternoon, it was at his front steps.

“We’ve got current flowing right in front of my house,” Salter said. “I would call this a major flood. This is almost as bad as the 2007 flood.”

Parker County officials were also monitoring Possum Kingdom Lake, where the Brazos River Authority opened a second floodgate Sunday, said Judi Pierce, an authority spokeswoman.

“It looks like we’re going to stay at two gates, but we’re very close to needing to open a third gate,” Pierce said. “If we get any substantial, heavy rainfall, we would need to do that.”

Since Sunday, Parker County had to help evacuate 22 people from three rural Parker County neighborhoods — Soda Springs, Horseshoe Bend and Brazos Rock.

“We’ve assisted in getting people out,” said Joel Kertok, a Parker County spokesman. “These weren’t rescues. These were people who needed help getting across flooded roadways that prevented them from leaving their neighborhood.”

But Kertok said the flood is impacting low-lying homes all along the Brazos.

“Every community along the Brazos in Parker County is dealing with flooding,” Kertok said. “The bad news is the river came up fast. The good news is the rain has stopped for now. Now we just need to catch a break.”

If no more rain falls, Kertok said, the worst may be over.

“We’re optimistic,” Kertok said. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Possum Kingdom doesn’t have to open a third gate.”

High water is also causing an issue at Lake Bridgeport, which was closed to boat traffic Sunday. The lake is just below the lowest homes, said David Marshall, Tarrant Regional Water District director of engineering services and operations support.

“We’re just shy of getting in anyone’s house,” Marshall said. “We’re only about half a foot away. If we don’t get any more rain, we should be OK.”

At Lake Worth, boat ramps closed on Monday. The lake will remain closed to all boating.

Water that will flow toward Eagle Mountain Lake in the next several days is being released downstream along the West Fork of the Trinity River. That could impact some low-lying roads in Wise County, which dealt with numerous closures early Monday morning.

Johnson County also dealt with road closures because of high water overnight.

But North Texas escaped the worst of the flooding — areas northwest of Houston saw an estimated 20 inches of rainfall. Some officials were drawing comparisons to Tropical Storm Allison.

The Colorado River is also rising east of Austin and headed toward moderate flooding near Columbus.

Mineral Wells: 7.35 inches

In Tarrant County, most areas saw 2-3 inches of rainfall. The highest total was 5.47 inches near White Settlement Road in west Fort Worth.

Overall for the area, the highest total was 7.35 inches southwest of Mineral Wells.

National Weather Service meteorologist Juan Hernandez said rain will stick around through at least Wednesday but the torrential downpours should be over for North Texas.

“We’re still seeing light showers but they shouldn’t have too much of an impact,” Hernandez said. “It should be much lighter than what we saw over the weekend.”

At Horseshoe Bend, residents like Salter are hoping he’s right.

He owns 13 rental houses in the rural Parker County neighborhood and has jokingly been called the mayor of Horseshoe Bend.

As the water continued to pour into the neighborhood, Salter felt a sense of helplessness.

“All I’m doing is sitting here looking at the water,” Salter said. “There’s nothing else I can do.”

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 11:36 AM with the headline "Brazos River floods in Parker County."