By Gary McWilliams and Marianna Parraga
Interstate highway 45 is submerged during widespread flooding in Houston.
A levee along the Brazos River south of Houston breached on Tuesday due to heavy rains from Tropical Storm Harvey, forcing officials to call for residents to evacuate lowlying areas.
Matt Sebesta, the chief administrator of Brazoria County, urged residents of the Columbia Lakes neighborhood to leave. “They need to get out. Get to higher ground in Angleton,” the county seat, he said in a televised interview.
Columbia Lakes is about 50 miles from Houston, close to the Brazos River. The Houston area’s rivers have started to flood. Harris County officials earlier on Tuesday warned residents of six northern Houston neighborhoods to evacuate around two water reservoirs that had started overflowing.