The storm hit the Houston area on Wednesday morning, submerging several streets and highways. At one point, I-10 at Washington was shut down and drivers were seen turning around on the highway to avoid the high water.
Made it to I-10 near Washington Avenue. Saw a car swallowed by flood waters underneath the underpass. pic.twitter.com/Wj5h0ZU8NG
— Erica Simon (@EricaOnABC13) July 4, 2018
Emergency crews and even good Samaritans rescued people who were unable to get out of high water.
As of 2 a.m. Thursday, Houston police said they removed and towed 167 vehicles from roadways that flooded.
@houstonpolice high water rescue serving impacted areas during today's heavy rain pic.twitter.com/yoFwXvHDYO
— Larry J Satterwhite (@SatterwhiteLJ) July 4, 2018
The City of Houston was forced to cancel the Freedom Over Texas festival due to the storm and flooding.
FLOODED FOURTH: Photos of Elanor Tinsley Park where the City of Houston cancelled its Fourth of July celebration. “Houston” letters floating. Big USA flag chair about to float. @abc13houston pic.twitter.com/6lzdSkO8bx
— Foti Kallergis (@FotiABC13) July 4, 2018
The Independence Day flooding brought back bad flashbacks of Hurricane Harvey, but city officials said they were prepared this time around from the lessons they learned from the devastation nearly a year ago.
"We have more assets than we did during Harvey, more assets that are readily available, so we had about 12 high-water trucks positioned throughout the city, about 43 boats positioned throughout the city, but we didn't have any calls for rescues," Mayor Sylvester Turner said.
