Officials continue to warn residents south of Lake Conroe Dam near the San Jacinto River that they should prepare for significant flooding due to a release of water from the lake to account for ongoing heavy rain.
Walker and northern Montgomery counties saw rainfall totals as high as 16 inches overnight.
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That, coupled with already saturated grounds, caused the San Jacinto River Authority to release 13,400 cubic feet per second (CFS) from Lake Conroe, according to a notification sent just before 7 a.m. Thursday. According to Herzog, the record release from Lake Conroe is 79,100 cubic feet per second during Harvey.
Officials predicted that amount will have to increase due to the amount of water the lake is receiving.
"This is going to cause significant flooding to areas south of Lake Conroe. Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (MCOHSEM) is working with the San Jacinto River Authority to understand the effects of these releases downstream," the county said in a statement.
By lunchtime, the gate release had risen to 66,100 (CFS).
Officials urged residents south of Lake Conroe Dam near the San Jacinto River to take immediate action and stay aware of the possibility of significant flooding along the river.
By late afternoon, Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough issued a voluntary evacuation order for flood-prone areas, including River Plantation, Mosswood, Woodloch, and the Idle Wilde/Idle Glen areas.
"If you live in these areas, you are encouraged to evacuate as we are expecting another 10-12 feet of rise in the river over the next several hours. Shelters are available in The Woodlands, Cleveland, and Montgomery at this time. Pets are welcomed at all shelters," Keough posted on social media.
Earlier, ABC13 spoke with Jason Millsaps with the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management concerning the flooding and the release of water from area dams.
"If you live south of Lake Conroe along the west fork of the San Jacinto River, you need to heed the warning that this is a significant flooding event coming your way," Millsaps said. "You need to move to higher ground and get your valuables to higher ground. Get your vehicles to higher ground and prepare to get out of your home fast."
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He explained that when water is released from the dam, it takes about eight hours to make its way south to I-45. It's likely that by late tonight or early Friday morning, it'll be an issue in east Montgomery County, and then as it moves out of that area into Harris County and Kingwood until it gets to Lake Houston.
"(The San Jacinto River Authority) will start gradually seeing it as it builds up because the River Authority was releasing at slower increments, and then they kept increasing the releases as their model forecasts was showing that they were having far more water inflow into the lake than they are releasing," he said. "As the lake level rises, they have to raise the gates. Otherwise, you have an uncontrolled release and it's a very dangerous situation for everybody. And so it's an unfortunate thing when you have 17 inches of rain overnight in the northern watersheds that already had 10 inches of rain two days earlier. That's, added up, almost Harvey-level amount of rainfall."
WATCH FULL INTERVIEW HERE:
ABC13 interviews Jason Millsaps with Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management about flooding
The ABC13 Weather Team issued an ABC13 Weather Alert Day for Thursday but extended it into Friday because of the lingering threat of heavy rain.
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The Lake Conroe area is not the only place bracing for more flooding.
Lake Livingston continues to release more water than what was released earlier this week, Herzog said.
Earlier in the day, a post from Lake Livingston Dam, read that the lake was releasing 100,600 CFS. But that number changed by the afternoon.
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