Strong southern winds with gusts of more than 30 miles per hour and water being released from the Toledo Bend Dam have caused minor flooding around the southern part of Orange County as water from the Gulf of Mexico blows upstream.
The gauge at the Boat Ramp in downtown Orange Tuesday afternoon jumped up to nearly 4.5 feet, a half foot above flood level. The tide now is beginning to go down, though the National Weather Service forecast has the river staying around 4 feet during high tides for the next two days.
Adams and Cow bayous are out of their banks south of Interstate 10.
North of Orange, Toledo Bend Reservoir is slowly going down as the Sabine River Authority keeps the 11 floodgates at the dam open at three feet each. Tuesday afternoon the lake is at 172.88 feet and is full at 172 feet. It was at 173.1 Sunday night.
In Deweyville, the Sabine River has now reached the moderate flood stage of 26 feet. The river is out of its banks at 24 feet there. The river is expected to go up to 26.6 feet Thursday.
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