Walking through area parks today was no easy task. Many of them were still flooded with high water from Wednesday night’s storms.
"It was amazing to see," Jay Kinard who lives in Plano said.
The rain was a sight for sore eyes because of our recent drought. But what's left behind isn't.
"This is awful now,” Kinard said. “They going to have to get some scoops out here and pick it up."
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Besides debris, there was some damage too.
The weather caused a historic oak tree in a Plano park to fall. It's estimated to be more than 400 years old.
The city of Plano shared pictures of several of its parks that were holding water Thursday.
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It appears bad, but the city said the flooded parks are serving a purpose.
"You see a lot of water standing,” City of Plano Assistant Director of Parks David Angeles said. “It's actually not standing. It's slowly and gradually draining, and the parks system is actually designed to do that."
"Well, it looks like they’re doing their job," Kinard said.
"The longer we can hold that water in our green space and in our permeable surfaces the better it is for the erosion in our creeks system and helps our storm system better clear the water system a little bit more efficiently," Angeles added.
The rising waters were more dangerous in other areas.
McKinney firefighters had to rescue three people and a dog that got trapped under a bridge.
In Bedford, the high water and debris damaged a guardrail that has now been roped off until repairs can be made.
In Colleyville, Jackson Road was closed and gated off so cars would not try and pass through the water.
Now that the water is going down, the focus will be on cleaning up.
"When you come back after a storm like this it's going to take us some time to get to our 85 parks,” Angeles said. “100 miles of hard surface trails. So, we just ask you to use caution when you enter out after a storm."
The city of Plano is asking people to avoid the area where the historic tree has fallen for safety reasons until it can be cleaned up.
