Overnight rains create more flooding in Parker, Wise counties

The flooding continues for some parts of North Texas.

Overnight rains on Wednesday kept the water rising at Lake Bridgeport, flooding about 10 roads in Wise and Jack County. The closures include U.S. 380 just west of the bridge over Lake Bridgeport.

From Lake Bridgeport downstream to Eagle Mountain, the West Fork of the Trinity River will look like a lake, said David Marshall, the Tarrant Regional Water District’s director of engineering and operations support.

“It’s going to resemble a linear reservoir between Bridgeport and Eagle Mountain during the next week,” Marshall said. “It’s a huge amount of water coming downstream.”

Three homes and one business at Lake Bridgeport are expected to flood, Marshall said.

Wise County Judge J.D. Clark said 10 military-style personnel trucks have been deployed to the Bridgeport area in case there is more flooding overnight Thursday.

“The main thing is we're concerned about is if the lake continues to rise,” Clark said. “They’re here in case they are needed for high-water rescues.”

For now, no homes are expected to flood at Eagle Mountain or Lake Worth but that could change on Thursday if with another round of storms dump heavy rainfall.

Forecasters said up to an inch of rain could fall west and northwest of Fort Worth early Thursday morning.

Due to the high lake level, the water district closed Eagle Mountain to recreational boat traffic at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Lake Bridgeport and Lake Worth were closed to traffic earlier this week.

In the flood-prone Parker County neighborhoods of Horseshoe Bend and Soda Springs, the Brazos River had dropped dramatically since reaching 26.92 feet this week. But Wednesday’s rainfall was predicted to cause a second crest of 24 feet Thursday evening.

The Brazos River Authority reopened a second floodgate early Wednesday but also noted that runoff was being felt in the 1,000-square-mile watershed below the dam and at Lake Granbury.

“It won't be as high as it was but we’ll be monitoring weather conditions on Thursday,” authority spokeswoman Judi Pierce said.

Bart Salter of Horseshoe Bend said he spent Tuesday night through Wednesday morning washing mud and debris from around his home. By Salter’s estimate about 100 of the more than 1,000 homes flooded in the neighborhood, which is adjacent to the Brazos on three sides.

“We’ll see the water get off the street today but it will come back in behind my home tomorrow,” Salter said. “The bulk of people are not going to start cleaning up until the water is completely gone.”

While North Texas should get a break from the rain for several days after Thursday’s storms, forecasters are predicting another round of stormy weather next week. Beginning on Sunday there will be several chances for severe weather with another strong system expected sometime late next week.

“Next week we will have a generally wet and unsettled pattern with another big system toward the end of the week,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Ted Ryan. “It may be more hit and miss than last week but some areas will get a lot of rain.”

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 2:31 PM with the headline "Overnight rains create more flooding in Parker, Wise counties."