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September 1, 2017 Lufkin – The Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday approved a speed limit change on SH 7 East in Nacogdoches, San Augustine and Shelby counties.
The approval came after a speed study and reevaluation on a portion of roadway located on SH 7 East. Commissioners approved the recommendation for the speed limit to be lowered from 75 mph to 65 mph. The change will become effective and enforceable once the new signs are set.
The section of SH 7 East that will be changed includes .3 miles east of SL 224 in Nacogdoches to Martinsville. The change also includes just east of Martinsville and continues on SH 7 through San Augustine County and will end at the Center city limits in Shelby County.
The commission also approved construction projects totaling $963.7 million statewide, and included a $1.5 million construction project located in Houston County and Trinity County.
The project is designed to upgrade metal guard rail and safety treat fixed objects on FM 227 and FM 357. Work limits on FM 227 include from SH 21 to SH 7 and on FM 357 from SH 7 to the Trinity County line in Houston County and from SH 94 to FM 2262 in Trinity County.
L.C. Jordan & Son will serve as contractor for the project. As work begins on this project, motorists are urged to obey all signage, reduce speed and stay alert to moving equipment and workers near the roadway.
August 31, 2017 - As of 5pm, Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative is reporting less than 20 outages after Hurricane Harvey swept through the area.
Crews began the day with just over 3,300 outages. By 8am, power had been restored to half and less than 1,000 by noon. Crews will continue to work until all power is restored.
We commend DETEC and contract crews for their diligent work and thank you all for your patience as they work to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible.
If you are still experiencing an outage, please call 1-800-392-5986.
As of 2 PM, Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative is reporting approximately 552 outages.
Panola County: 1 meter out
Nacogdoches County: 1
San Augustine County: 57
Sabine County: 268
Jasper County: 3
Newton County: 222
As of 11am, Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative is reporting approximately 1,486 outages.
Panola County: 1 meter out
Shelby County: 46
Nacogdoches County: 2
San Augustine County: 130
Sabine County: 662
Jasper County: 1
Newton County: 591
Today, as flood waters recede, crews are diligently working to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible. With just over 3,300 outages at 8am this morning, crews have made considerable progress, restoring more than half by 11am.
As of 8:30am, Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative is reporting approximately 3,301 outages.
Panola County: 1 meter out
Shelby County: 226
Nacogdoches County: 51
San Augustine County: 480
Sabine County: 774
Jasper County: 100
Newton County: 1,546
Overnight flash flood warnings and road closures greatly slowed work. Today, as flood waters recede, crews are diligently working to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible.
DETEC would like to remind members to be safe - STAY AWAY FROM ALL DOWNED LINES. Consider them all to be live and dangerous.
Call DETEC at 1-800-392-5986 to report downed lines.
August 30, 2017 - As of 7:30 PM, Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative is reporting approximately 2,271 outages.
Outages by County:
Panola County: 1 meter out
Shelby County: 5
Nacogdoches County: 276
San Augustine County: 517
Sabine County: 459
Jasper County: 81
Newton County: 843
As of 4:45 PM, Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative is reporting approximately 2,605 outages.
Outages by County:
Shelby County: 2 meters out
Nacogdoches County: 123
San Augustine County: 784
Sabine County: 1,211
Jasper County: 81
Newton County: 311
As of 2 PM, Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative is reporting approximately 3,188 outages.
Outages by County:
Shelby County: 43 meters out
Nacogdoches County: 29
San Augustine County: 1,117
Sabine County: 1,688
Jasper County: 3
Newton County: 219
As of 12 PM, Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative is reporting approximately 3,323 outages as Tropical Storm Harvey moves through the area.
Outages by County:
Shelby County: 30 meters out
Nacogdoches County: 575
San Augustine County: 372
Sabine County: 1,896
Jasper County: 3
Newton County: 350
As of 10 AM, Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative is reporting approximately 3,660 outages as Tropical Storm Harvey moves through the area.
Call DETEC at 1-800-392-5986 to report downed lines.
Outages by County:
Shelby County: 63 meters out
Nacogdoches County: 403
San Augustine County: 515
Sabine County: 1,345
Jasper County: 982
Newton County: 328
With the current rainfall levels and the projected rainfall in the future, please understand that restoration efforts may be slowed considerably to ensure the safety of our lineman and contractors.
- If you or someone in your household is dependent upon life support, identify a location you can move to that has an alternate power source.
- Check backup generators for proper operations and remember to carefully follow generator safety precautions including NOT operating a generator indoors.
- Monitor local weather conditions.
- Follow warnings from local authorities. If you must travel, check drivetexas.org, for road closures and hazard information.
Please report outages, by calling: 1-800-392-5986
August 30, 2017 (Update 9:05pm) - Alert: FM 353 in San Augustine County, 6 miles east of SH 147 and 2 miles west of SH 87, is closed after a road base failure.
(Update 12:31pm) - Alert: Flooded roads reported in Shelby County: FM 3184 at Blue Creek and FM 139 at Bayou Siepe. #turnarounddontdrown
(Update 9:13am) - Alert: SH 21 at Maddux Creek Bridge at FM 330 and FM 3448 in Sabine County is flooded. Don't drive through flooded roadways. #TurnAroundDontDrown
(Update 8:43am) - Alert: SH 87 South at Sandy Creek near FM 3315 in Sabine County is flooded. Don't drive through flooded roadways. #TurnAroundDontDrown
(Update 8:09am) - Alert: US 87 South in Sabine County is flooded and impassable. Visit drivetexas.org for all closures. #TurnAroundDontDrown
Flash Flood Warning
National Weather Service Shreveport LA
7:51 PM CDT Wednesday, August 30, 2017
August 30, 2017 - The National Weather Service in Shreveport has issued a Flash Flood Warning for Shelby County in eastern Texas, San Augustine County in eastern Texas, and Sabine County in eastern Texas until 11:45 PM CDT.
At 7:51 PM CDT, local law enforcement reported moderate to heavy rain continues to fall across the warned area. Widespread rainfall amounts of three to in excess of ten inches has already fallen across the warned area, with the higher totals across San Augustine and Sabine Counties. Numerous roads are flooded and closed, with flash flooding expected to continue through the remainder of the evening.
Some locations that will experience flooding include Center, Milam, San Augustine, Logansport, Hemphill, Tenaha, Pineland, Joaquin, Browndell, Patroon, Bland Lake, Neuville, Rosevine, Macune, Shelbyville, Huxley, Broaddus, Jericho, Stockman and Bronson.
Additional rainfall amounts of a half inch to an inch, with isolated higher amounts, are possible in the warned area through 1145 PM.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
- Turn around, don`t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles.
- Be especially cautious at night when it is harder to recognize the dangers of flooding.
- Please report flooding to your local law enforcement agency when you can do so safely.
August 30, 2017 - The Shelby County Sheriff's Department and Center fire Department were dispatched to a tree down on State Highway 7 West Wednesday, August 30, 2017 at 4:55pm.
When they arrived, a large tree was dangling over a guardrail and into the outside westbound traffic lane. Firemen and sheriff's deputies directed traffic at the scene to prevent a collision with the tree.
A TxDOT work crew was on scene to estimate what was needed to take down the tree and awaited more machinery which was en-route to work on the large tree.
Travelers should continue to prepare for delays through that area until the tree is clear of the roadway, and be aware of the possibility of trees falling due to tropical storm Harvey.
August 30, 2017 - Center ISD will have a late start tomorrow, Thursday, August 31, 2017. Classes will begin at 9:15am and all staff are to report at 9:00am. Buses will run 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours later tomorrow morning.
August 30, 2017 - Shelbyville ISD will early release today, August 30 at 1:00 pm as a precaution due to weather conditions. School will start at 9:00 am tomorrow, Thursday, August 31 and release at 1:00 pm.
August 28, 2017 - A group of Shelby County citizens and businesses have come together to support flood victims. The goal is to send a trailer filled with donations.
Items needed: blankets, non perishable food items, water / Gatorade / Powerade, baby items (wipes, diapers, formula, bottles, pacifiers), toiletries, tarps (big need for them), pet food
Drop-off locations for donations include:
- Ace Ems (704 Southview Circle, Center) - anytime
- Allen's Auto Repair (504 Shelbyville) from 9am until 4:30pm
- Automatic Gas (148 Wall Street, Tenaha) - Precinct 4 Constable Jake Metcalf will leave tomorrow (Tuesday) around noon. If items can't be dropped off before his leaving, they are still collecting for the next trip
- Center Floral (135 Shelbyville St, Center)
- CHS National Honor Society - CHS (Susan Lout Penick)
- Custom Threads (204 Houston St, Center) from 10am until 5pm
- Farmers State Bank (on Roughrider Dr, Center)
- Hampton Hotel (141 Express Blvd, Center) ***they have evacuees there needing supplies
- Hissy Fit (209 Nacogdoches St, Center) from 8am until 6pm
- The Hope Project (157 wall St. Tenaha, TX or 620 Tenaha St. Center, TX) from 7am to 5pm (Donation Flyer)
- Joaquin VFD (124 Preston St, Joaquin) ***leaving bay doors open for you to drop off
- Jordan Health Services (202 Tenaha St, Center) from 8am to 5pm
- McAdams Propane (191 US Highway 96 South, Center) will be taking a trailer load as well of supplies
- Menzies' Liquor (6210 Hwy 87 N, Center)
- Shelby Co Sheriffs Office
- Shelby County Today (229 San Augustine Street)
- Tenaha FBC (200 George Bowers Dr, Tenaha)
- Timpson FBC (715 N 2nd St, Timpson) from 8am till 12 noon
- Timpson Volunteer Fire Dept (305 Jacobs St, Timpson) from 8am to 5pm
- Zack's Tint Shop (1419 St Hwy 87, Center) after 7:30am
August 28, 2017 - All recreation areas and trails in the Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Angelina and Sabine National Forests remain closed as a public safety precaution until the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey passes, according to Forest Supervisor Eddie Taylor.
Taylor emphasized that national forest campgrounds have older trees that are susceptible to falling when soils become saturated.
“With potentially high winds, possible tornados and heavy rainfall, the forest is not a safe place to be,” he said. "The forecast calls for rain through the week which means the ground will be saturated and the threat of falling trees is real. We’ve had experiences with people trapped and even injured in recreation areas when trees have fallen onto campers and tents. Expected heavy rains can cause roads and culverts to wash out and we will not put the public in harm's way."
Recreation areas and trails will remain closed until the storm has passed and Forest Service personnel have determined the roads and public areas are safe.
Reservations through www.recreation.gov will be suspended through next week.
August 28, 2017 - Shelby County Today reports that mail delivery may be delayed. The local Post Offices are serviced out of a Houston distribution center which has been impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
Mail delivered to the Center office this morning was extremely low on mail volume. Shelby County Today was advised that mail in Houston at the North Houston TX Processing and Distribution Center was unable to be dispatched and postal workers and volunteers are working on retrieving the mail from that facility.
New mail is being rerouted to Dallas and other areas for processing so there should not be any delays for new mail sent out.
SCT advised anyone who has mailed in an account payment around the end of last week when Hurricane Harvey arrived, they may want to contact the company to see if payment has been received. If not, then call the company to advise them of the possible mail delay and see if the company needs you to make payment arrangements to avoid late fees.
USPS Service Alerts - https://about.usps.com/news/service-alerts/
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