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The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up

Friday, May 29, 2015

An ad hoping to attract settlers to the Houston area in 1836 boasted that the city was “salubrious and well watered.” Well watered indeed. You’ve probably already seen pictures of our Visitors Center, which had 15 inches of standing water this week due to continued downpours.

flooded Visitor's Center

The George Ranch Historical Park’s Visitor’s Center on Tuesday.

This May is officially the wettest month in Texas history – and Texas rain records span 120 years. Today in Fort Bend County, all eyes are on the Brazos River, which is projected to rise 50.1 feet by Monday. The flood level is 48 feet.

But this isn’t the first time Fort Bend County has been waterlogged. Centered between the Colorado and Brazos rivers, most of the lower elevations of the county are susceptible to flooding. Massive floods also happened in 1899, 1913 and 1922. Here’s a look back at the 1913 storm:

1913 flood photo

Fort Bend County has had its share of flooding through the years.

1913 FLOOD
A storm from the north blew in on December 6, 1913, dumping rain into the upper reaches of the Brazos, San Bernard and Colorado rivers. Rain kept falling, with many places recording as much as 12 inches of rain. This water flowed downstream and river levels in Fort Bend County began to rise. December 8 saw the Brazos River flooding the low areas east and north of Rosenberg.

Runners were sent to warn people in the lowlands to evacuate. A Santa Fe train with seven lifeboats arrived, with two being assigned to Rosenberg, one to Sugar Land, one to Orchard and three to Richmond.

The Brazos rose 10 feet from December 7 to December 8, with waters still rising and spreading into the surrounding countryside. On December 9, the Brazos was a swirling, seething flow, carrying with it rooftops, timbers and other debris. The water began to back up in the gulches and gullies, eventually standing a few feet below the train depot.

The Creamery, Brazos Brick and Tile Co. plant and old Dunbar sawmill were flooded. Boats patrolled the river looking for people adrift in the water. Another relief train rescued 50 people between Sugar Land and Harlem. Businesses in Rosenberg were closed so that everyone could take part in the rescue and relief efforts. By nightfall, the waters stood five feet below the bottom of the steel wagon bridge and two feet below the depot. The northern horizon was water as far as the eye could see with depths ranging from three to seven feet. The flood was said to extend in an unbroken stretch for 12 miles between Richmond and Sugar Land.

The waters crested and then quickly fell on December 10, sparing downtown Richmond and Rosenberg from inundation. On December 11, the waters continued to recede, clearing the railroad tracks to the west and allowing trains to come in from that direction. Relief supplies and assistance arrived in the area and repairs to area infrastructure began.

In the days following, the hundreds of people who took refuge in Richmond and Rosenberg started returning to what was left of their homes. Lime was shipped in to prevent typhoid, silt was cleared away, and wood was gathered both for rebuilding and for fuel. Regular trains began to run on December 17 and conditions returned to normal shortly thereafter, but those who lived through the events of December 1913 never forgot the raging waters or the tireless efforts of the rescuers.

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