Deweyville in southern Newton is already feeling the effects of the high water from the Sabine River. Steve Stewart from radio station KJAS in Jasper visited Deweyville Monday and said the scene is devastating. Stewart reported the water was at near record level as of midday on Monday. By the time the Sabine crests later this week Stewart stated another three feet of water will be over the streets of Deweyville.
Stewart talked with several Newton County law enforcement officials who are encouraging as well as warning curiosity seekers not to come to Deweyville. Stewart informed that the Newton County Sheriff and the Precinct Four Constable of Newton County both said that non residents need to stay away, and peace officers might begin writing citations against non-Deweyville residents found in that area.
The problem according to the law enforcement officers are the number of poisonous snakes and alligators in the water that have been washed out of their natural habitants by the high water. The official statement is stay out of Deweyville and stay away from the water.
Although electrical power was shut off in Deweyville by the Jasper-Newton Electric Cooperative to help protect rescuers plying the flood water and also to prevent electrical fires in flooded structures, people in the area could still communicate by cell phones. However, cell phone service there is expected to be lost by Monday evening. According to Staff Sergeant Michael Major of the U.S. Army National Guard out of Houston, he and his crew on Monday afternoon used a high profile military vehicle known as an ”LMTV” to take a technician to a cell phone tower that is standing in water in Deweyville and receiving electricity from a generator.
Major said the technician discovered that the water was only about one foot below the generator and would soon overtake it, resulting in the tower no longer working. When that happens, emergency crews in the Deweyville area will only be able to communicate by radio. (KJAS)
Social Media