Tannie and Frances Shannon had lived in their home in the Forest Hills subdivision south of Conroe, Texas, for 21 years untroubled by flooding. But when nearly 30 inches of rain hit east Texas in 48 hours last week, swiftly rising floodwaters forced them to leave their belongings behind and flee. Swaddling 11-month-old granddaughter Andrea in plastic to keep her dry and holding a leash to a sheep dog named Amadeus, the Shannons waded through 4 feet of water to high ground and safety 40 miles north of Houston. Not everyone living near the nation's fourth-largest city was as fortunate. At least 17 people perished in the flooding, which forced more than 11,000 Texans from their homes and caused tens of millions of dollars in damages. As skies cleared at week's end, the storms' runoff touched off even more flooding downstream.
