12 people, 5 dogs, 1 horse rescued by boat from homes west of Conroe where flooding is likely

CONROE, Texas — There’s flooding downriver from Lake Conroe thanks to a release of water from the dam, a necessity to protect its integrity.

“So, as of right now, we’ve rescued about 11 adults, one infant, five dogs, and one horse,” Jason Smith with the Montgomery County judge’s office told us. “Another one didn’t want to be caught, but we were able to get it to an area of high ground to ride out the rain.”

Several people didn’t want to leave but officials said they’d keep tabs on them through this evening and overnight.

“We expect the water to keep rising tonight as the rain does continue to pour – things are underwater – the homes are not underwater yet, but they likely will be as the night progresses,” Smith said.

A portion of FM 2854 was closed temporarily during the rescues but it has since reopened.

Nearby McDade Park is inundated but it’s designed to flood during heavy rains.

The San Jacinto River near Kingwood also rose rapidly after the Lake Conroe release. A parking lot near the old 59 bridge flooded but we hadn’t heard of any structures flooding at last check.