Rain!…But Not Enough
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
HOUSTON COUNTY — Rain finally reached Houston County this week, but much of the county did not receive enough — or the right kind of coverage — to end the burn ban that has been in place since Aug. 11.
As Tropical Storm Edouard moved across Southeast Texas, residents looked forward to widespread rainfall after weeks of hot, dry conditions. Forecasts had suggested that several inches of rain could fall across the Piney Woods, including Houston County. The storm’s circulation even moved through the eastern part of the county near Crockett.
But the rain bands were uneven, leaving some areas with several inches while others received less than an inch.
“The west and northwest side of our county didn’t get near the rain that the far eastern part got,” said Heath Murff of the Houston County Office of Emergency Management. “I got almost five inches at my house. The rest of the county didn’t get that much, so we’re kind of in limbo.”
The temporary burn ban was adopted by Houston County Commissioners Court on Aug. 11 because of a lack of rain and increasingly dry conditions. The order prohibits outdoor burning in the county’s unincorporated areas and can be lifted when officials determine that conditions have improved.
Murff said he had spoken with the county’s fire chiefs and County Judge Jim Lovell, and they agreed the recent rainfall was not widespread enough to lift the ban.
The storm did not produce the flooding that had been feared in some parts of the county. Murff said emergency officials received no reports of flash flooding, flooded roadways or creeks and tributaries overflowing.
“We had good rain from the rain bands that came after the storm actually moved farther north,” Murff said. “We got some good, slow rain. I don’t think we had anything that was impactful enough. I had no reports of any flash flooding or any of our creeks or tributaries flooding any roadways or anything like that. No reports of flooding.”
The biggest issue was how quickly the rainfall totals changed from one area to another.
“It was pretty sporadic,” Murff said. “Less than an inch of rain fell total in some areas, while the North Grapeland area got an inch and a half. Some of them didn’t get a half-inch out toward the lake. The area out toward Kennard even got 4.5 to five inches.”
That uneven distribution left the county in a difficult position. Some residents received enough rain to significantly reduce the immediate fire danger around their homes, while other areas remained dry enough that officials were not comfortable changing the countywide order.
“We hope we maybe get some more rain out of this,” Murff said. “Maybe we have a chance Saturday. If we get some more rain — a little bit more widespread, more concentrated into that northwest to west side of our county — we could lift it.”
The National Weather Service had warned that the remnants of Edouard could produce heavy rainfall across Houston County. On Wednesday, forecasters said the center of the tropical depression was just east of Crockett and that additional rainfall of 2 to 6 inches was possible near the circulation, with isolated higher amounts.
That threat did not develop evenly across the county. Instead, the storm brought a mixture of slow rainfall, scattered downpours and narrow rain bands that left significant differences between nearby communities.
For now, the rain has not changed the county’s official status. The burn ban remains in effect in the unincorporated areas of Houston County, and residents should continue following the order until it is lifted by county officials.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
