Denton County Leaders Prepare for More Flooding

Due to flooding and the potential for more flooding, Denton County leaders are urging residents to prepare for high water, especially those living near Lakes Lewisville, Ray Roberts and Grapevine.

The area is likely to get several more inches of rain late Friday night into Saturday morning.

As of late Friday afternoon, Denton County reports approximately 40 road closures, mostly auxiliary roads.

Currently, there are about 16 homes isolated, surrounded by water.

"All of the county's lakes are functioning as they should," said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lake Manager Rob Jordan.

Lake Lewisville is expected to rise three-fourths of a foot over next 24 hours.

However, Jordan said the spillway at Lake Ray Roberts is their main area of concern.

The spillway level of Lake Ray Roberts is 532 feet. 536 feet is what the lake is expected to reach by tomorrow morning, officials said.

If necessary, the Lake Ray Roberts spillway will be activated for first time ever, according to Jordan.

"At this point the experts are telling me that we're maybe one heavy rainfall event away from [water toppling the spillway]," said Lt. Col. Clay Morgan of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "A major event would be a 4-inch rain, something like we saw last night over Dallas."

Lake Ray Roberts' watershed had 22.5 inches of rain in May. That's two-thirds of the normal rainfall amount for the year. The lake has been in existence since 1987.

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Jody Gonzalez, Director of Denton County Emergency Services, said any residents living along a Denton County lake who are concerned about rising water, first call your city, or call your county if you live in an unincorporated area. 

Gonzalez discussed how it's a good thing the lakes will rise slowly.

"Those increases will be slight, giving us the opportunity to provide citizens ample warning in the event that elevations do increase," Gonzalez said.

Residents are urged to visit www.dentoncounty.com to get more information, plus, sign up for Code Red emergency system alerts. 

NBC 5's Ben Russell contributed to this report.

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