Residents along San Jacinto River eye water levels
HIGHLANDS, TX (KTRK) -- Rising waters across our area continue to threaten communities from Wharton to Wimberly.
In Banana Bend, the San Jacinto River rose four feet in just 24 hours, cutting off communities.
"It's stressful. You get a little anxiety, kind of lose your appetite," says Steve Bowen.
Feet away from where Bowen and his neighbors raced to pack up their things Thursday afternoon, the San Jacinto River's rise continues.
"Even here right now it's a gamble," Bowen said. "Once the road right up through here floods over, you can't get your stuff out."
Their private beach and picnic area are under water.
"We just moved out our travel trailer that we live in," LeAnn Gover tells us. "We might not have had to, but it's a chance you take."
The river is at flood stage right now, and is expected to rise another one to one and a half feet. Gover and her husband lost everything they had in a fire here in 2010. So they're not taking any chances.
"You could leave it here and collect on your insurance, or whatever you want to do. But I prefer to keep my stuff," she said.
They took their travel trailer to a friend's up hill.
"She has a plug for me, and she's like 'y'all bring it on down,'" Gover said.
Many of their neighbors are looking Mother Nature right in the eye.
"We're just gonna sit and watch it rise," Greg White says.
"It's our home, we're not leaving it," explains Tinker Hall.
The road to Chuck and Tinker Hall's home is under several feet of water. Their boat is the only way in or out. Only the roof of their boat house is visible under the swollen San Jacinto.
"Normally, it would be about 5-6 feet above water," Chuck Hall says.
Whether they chose to stay or go, there's lots of uncertainty here.
"It's gonna be raining this weekend," Steve Bowen says. "It's predicted to get higher than this anyway. So if they open the gates on the dam more than they've already let it out now, it'll for sure be way over this."
The one thing everyone out here is sure of is that more rain could make things a whole lot worse for them. So they're crossing their fingers that things stay dry until the water goes down.
Firefighters are advising everyone who lives along Northshore Drive near Kingwood to evacuate.
