Several rounds of heavy rain closed roads and displaced residents near the City of Bridgeport.
Several rounds of heavy rain closed roads and displaced residents near the City of Bridgeport.
Several rounds of heavy rain closed roads and displaced residents near the City of Bridgeport.
BRIDGEPORT, Texas — About a dozen Wise County roads are expected to be closed through the weekend after heavy rain caused flooding on local rivers and lakes.
Lake Bridgeport was two and a half feet above full pool as of Friday, and the west fork of the Trinity River escaped its banks.
The Tarrant Regional Water District closed Lake Bridgeport on Thursday and began offering sandbags to help keep water out of homes at lower elevations near it and Eagle Mountain Lake.
It might be too late for Debbie Scott.
Her mobile home on County Road 920 is now surrounded by water, and she’s worried it’s going to keep rising. She said she’s lived in the home since 1995 and has experienced flooding at least five times before.
But this is the first since she lost her husband in 2019.
When the river began rising, friends and family hurried to her home and helped move her belongings to her porch. They hope it’s high enough to keep everything dry.
A wheelchair ramp to her front door is now submerged, and her home is entirely cut off from the street. She’s staying in a motel, which she said she can’t afford.
“No insurance and I’m on a fixed income,” she said. “I gotta laugh to keep from crying.”
There have been multiple rounds of heavy rains since Easter weekend.
In fact, some parts of Wise and Montague County have received about 18 inches of rain in about two weeks, according to WFAA meteorologists.
Ken Kilpatrick owns Ken’s Appliances in Bridgeport.
Water began taking over nearby Harwood Park on Thursday. Then on Friday, he watched it creep toward his store and then recede a bit. He isn’t sure how high it might get.
“Another 10-inch rain? I don’t know, we’ll have to get the canoes out. Have to have a boat paddle and life jacket sale here at Ken’s Appliances,” he said.
“If it happens, it happens,” he said. “What are we going to do?”
Scott had a similar attitude.
“Nothing I can do,” she said, but she admitted she’s worried, aggravated, and “maybe a little disgusted, too.”
The Wise County Emergency Management Office created a dashboard for residents to check road conditions. While they asked people to exercise caution and avoid flooded areas, WFAA cameras watched several people ignore barricades and drive straight into high water.
Anyone in need of sandbag assistance should call the Tarrant Regional Water District at 817-720-4584.