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Flooding worsens along Caddo


Friday, October 23, 2009

UNCERTAIN — Johnson's Ranch Marina officials are hoping to get back to normal soon.

Heavy rains for the past week have drenched the famed facility, forcing workers to move their operations to a nearby station on higher ground. They've been there for about a week, waiting for the water levels to return to normal.

Billy Carter, left, and Johnson's Ranch dock hand Leroy Jones, right push a boat carrying J.T. Molder, Pat Molder, and Martha Moxon as they move to higher ground Thursday at Johnson's Ranch in Uncertain.
 
Flood waters fill Waskom-Taylor City Park Thursday.
 

Over in Waskom, there was some localized flooding and water over roads due to the heavy rains.

"We got a couple of inches in a short time," said Public Works Director Darrell Robbins. "It came down fast but has receded fast."

While there was water over several roads including Farm-to-Market Road 9 south, where, at 11:30 a.m., water was over the roads, Robbins said.

"It's been localized flooding. We've haven't had any reports of water being in houses. It's mainly streets and drainage flooding."

On Tuesday, Caddo Lake exceeded its flood stage by three feet at 175 feet but by Thursday, it had begun to recede.

Johnson's Ranch owner Billy Carter said the building received about "three and a half to four feet" of water last week. Even thought the water had begun to recede, the facility still had about a foot of water.

"I've lost my Internet service so I can't check e-mails for the business and I can't take future bookings because the phone is down," said Karen Holzman, who answers phones and takes reservations.

She said the inclement weather also destroyed $200 worth of ice boxes.

"This time of year, we usually have fishing trips going out. Right now, we can't do it because we can't book them and of course they can't fish on the lake when it's this high," Ms. Holzman added. "I'm just waiting for it to go down so we can get started again. It's going to be a mess to clean up when it comes down."

Leroy Jones, who cleans fish at the popular marina, said he's also been affected.

"It kind of messed me up a whole lot. I can't make any money," said Jones, who now spends his time cleaning up at the temporary facility. "I've been down here about all my life. It's a nice place when it's dry."

Johnson's Ranch is believed to be the oldest inland marina in Texas and was established more than 100 years ago. It offers many services, including sightseeing tours on Caddo Lake and various fishing services.

KTAL Meteorologist Todd Warren said Thursday that the East Texas area received between two to four inches of rain, but that Marshall received a little under three inches. He said the rain will end today, but there's a possibility for rain Monday and Wednesday.

Carter said officials at the ranch had been gauging the water levels around the facility Thursday to see if it would be feasible to begin work Friday.

"Hopefully, it's going to drop that much more today (Thursday), but it looks like, with this heavy rain that we got this morning, that it stayed the same or came back up possibly an inch," said Carter. "I'm hoping by (Friday), we'll be able to get back into the building. If it drops a foot, we'll be back in there."

Carter said other businesses in the area have also been affected by the heavy rainfall.

"This business and every business down here is basically closed. There's no way you can load people onto a boat to carry them fishing, sightseeing or anything," he said. "The ranch is underwater, the docks are underwater. It's just a wasted effort on everybody's part to even show up for work right now except to take care of your stuff and make sure that it's still intact when you get back."

But despite the setback, Carter is still looking at the upside.

"We came out real good, everything considered," he said. "But, it definitely needs to get down. The fish are ready. The fishing season is on. We just need the water to go down."

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