Pickup trucks, some pulling trailers, were pulled up to the piles of sand in Deweyville by the Newton County sub courthouse. Men and women with shovels were filling the provided bags with the sand. It’s a ritual for a low-lying community along the Sabine River. But this time, the National Weather Service is predicting “major, catastrophic flooding” for Deweyville.
Still, people like 75-year-old Darrell Hryhorchuk say they’re staying in their homes and not evacuating. Hryhorchuk sandbagged his house at Ruliff Road back in the May 1989 flood which surpassed 29 feet. The National Weather Service says the level at Deweyville this time could reach 34.4 feet by early next week.
“It would not have gotten into my house (in 1989) if I hadn’t sandbagged,” Hryhorchuk said.
A county employee was helping him fill the sandbags. She said the sheriff usually sends jail trusties from Newton down to Deweyville to help fill the sandbags. Heavy rains this week have cause major flooding in Newton and many roads have flooded.
Nearby, 17-year-old Garrin Beck and 19-year-old Daniel Cheatwood were also filling bags. They were going to use the sandbags around the house and stay with their moms. Cheatwood said his grandfather has told him about the 1989 flood.
Beck said he isn’t worried about staying. “This is our home,” he said. He added that “we’ve all got boats around here.”
A drive around the winding, wooded roads show a mix of mobile homes, small houses and large, stylish houses, some built up on man-made hills. Most have a small motorboat in the yard or driveway.
Most of the houses in the Indian Lake neighborhood along the river are built on stilts or piers. The roads will be covered with water at minor flood levels.
One resident said he hadn’t heard about the severe flood levels predicted. He said his wife and children might go to a hotel so he can get to work. He’ll have to find a hotel that will take his dogs.
The river was high Thursday afternoon, but had not reached flood level. Even so, the rains and water coming up from sloughs had sent water into some yards and filled ditches.
Areas in North Orange County along the river, like West Bluff Road, should also expect severe flooding. In the 1989 flood, the east end of West Bluff Road had water that reached almost to the top of utility poles.
Orange County is offering citizens a chance to fill sandbags at the four precinct barns. Orange County Emergency Management Director Ryan Peabody said people should bring their own shovels. Or perhaps post-hole diggers. In Deweyville, a discussion developed about whether a shovel or a post-hole digger is easier for filling the bags.
No one in Orange County, though, needed that discussion. The Precinct 1 barn near West Bluff Road reported that no one had come to fill sandbags.
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