Local News

Heavy-Duty Cleanup Underway In Flooded Sanger

May 8, 2015 / 2:15 PM CDT / CBS Texas

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SANGER(CBSDFW.COM) - Unsuspecting Denton County homeowners found themselves knee-deep in water from the storms just south of Gainesville in Sanger.

Commercial cleanup crews were the order of the day Friday in low-lying parts of Sanger where Duck Creek overflowed its banks overnight.

High waters forced the evacuation of several homes.Water started rushing into the homes just after midnight, as residents were force to call 9-1-1 for help. Rescue crews arrived and used boats to evacuate trapped residents.

Greg Steuck says within an hour, everything in his home started to float. "I thought I heard water running. I thought well maybe it was the commode just leaking or something like that," said Steuck. "I got up and started walking down the hallway and then it started coming in. Within an hour, it was about three feet."

"In the house some places it was 17 (inches), some places it was 20 (inches)," said resident Rick Clements.

Clements said a neighbor called around midnight with water in his home. He was surprised when he got up and found water pouring into his home and garage as well. It covered his riding mower and got into the passenger compartment of his pickup. But the house was the worst.

"I got up, it was already coming in to the back door and you could see it rising pretty rapidly," said Clements. "It got up beyond the windows, stated coming in the windows and doors. Wasn't much you could do."

Clements says it was a real surprise because he'd checked outside before turning in. But he speculates now there might have been 6-8 inches of rainfall upstream.

Residents say Duck Creek has overflowed its banks before but never this bad.

Radar estimates show at least three inches of rain fell, and perhaps as much as six inches in the area just north of Sanger.

The American Red Cross has been called in to help the displaced residents.