The heavens above Southeast Texas finally seemed ready to give the region a break last Wednesday. More than 20 in. of rain had fallen in less than 48 hours, sending Houston's San Jacinto River to record levels and forcing 13,000 residents to abandon their homes. At least 18 people died in the swirling floodwaters. But now the skies were clearing, the river was subsiding, and people were returning to their homes. Then the river exploded.
While it will be impossible to tell what happened until the water recedes, officials speculate that the roiling currents of the swollen San Jacinto had possibly scoured away the earth around two massive pipelines buried 3 ft. beneath the riverbed. The exposed lines, which carry nearly one-sixth of U.S. daily gasoline supplies, were then either rammed by a floating object or simply collapsed. In any case, about 200,000 bbl. of gasoline and diesel spewed into the water, floated to the surface and at 8:30 a.m. ignited. Flames and smoke shot more than 100 ft. into the air as the inferno raced downstream at speeds of 80 m.p.h., gobbling up trees, boats, barges and several homes.
Miraculously, no one was killed by the fire, but it caused major disruption. The accident occurred near the heart of Houston's refining and petrochemical district, the nexus of the U.S. pipeline network. The breach sent fuel prices soaring in the futures markets, interrupted supplies throughout Northeastern states (the pipe runs as far north as Linden, New Jersey) and forced the Houston ship channel to close down for several days. On Friday two other pipelines began leaking oil that seeped into Galveston Bay.
The giant leaks compounded the havoc in a part of Texas that had already been declared a disaster area. Early last week, a massive storm front that parked itself over Southeast Texas began washing the region away. In some places, rivers prowled nine miles from their banks, marauding through neighborhoods that had never seen flooding before. Water poured over earthen levees, bubbled up through storm cellars and then broke into at least 6,000 residences.
The flood struck with sudden brutality. In one of the most tragic episodes, Catherine and Forrest Langlinais's car slipped into 12 ft. of water in Chambers County in the midst of a torrential downpour. As the vehicle came to a stop, the father grabbed his two-year-old son and his baby, who was born only two months ago. Attempting to scramble to safety on the roof of the car, he lost his grip on the infant, who immediately disappeared in the swirling water; the child's body was found Wednesday.
There were many other victims. In Baytown, a 10-year-old girl watched in horror as a 46-year-old man was swept into a rain-gorged gully. In Grimes County, three children drowned when currents washed the car in which they were riding off the road. In Hardin County, a construction worker who decided to take a dip in the floodwaters was swept away and lost. In San Jacinto County, the body of a rancher was discovered among his herd of drowned cattle.