First it was high winds and lots of rain but now there’s a new problem for people in Victoria: The Guadalupe River is flooding neighborhoods.
People who left Victoria before Hurricane Harvey arrived are starting to return. In addition to storm damage, they’re finding flood water from the Guadalupe River taking over parts of the city.
People sitting outside Moo Moo’s restaurant aren’t there to get the famous friend chicken, they’re staring at the floodwaters covering downtown streets, homes, and businesses.
“We were hoping we wouldn’t see this much, but we did,” said Rosanne Guerra, a Victoria resident.
There are only a few restaurants that are open, so people that were stuck inside for days are venturing out only to wait in long lines for a hot meal.
“That’s why everybody’s finally coming out of their homes and everywhere is so packed, because there are limited places open,” Victoria resident Arbony Barfield said. “When you can get good food you like, it’s worth the wait.”
But officials are warning that Victoria isn’t the safest place to be right now. The city is under a boil water notice and traffic lights aren’t working, among other problems.
“There are a lot of stores that still are not open,” said Deputy Bryan Simmons with the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office. “What we are looking at is there is still a lot of debris that’s out and people just need to be aware this is still ongoing. We are still in a ‘disaster zone.’”
It’s a disaster zone that many people are ready see return to normal.
Officials say that the flood waters should crest some time on Wednesday evening and then start going down.