Flood in Newton County, Texas

Between November 3 and November 17, significant river flooding affected dozens of residences along the Sabine River in eastern Newton County. Although only a few homes were reportedly flooded, many residences were completely surrounded by flood waters and cut off from outside areas. Some of the worst flooding occurred in and near Deweyville in southeastern Newton County, especially the River Oaks and Indian Lakes subdivisions. A temporary earthen levee was constructed on the eastern side of Deweyville to protect the town from flooding. All schools in Deweyville were closed for two weeks due to the flooding. Numerous roads throughout eastern Newton County were underwater for several weeks and received significant damage.

Extensive heavy rainfall across much of eastern Texas and Louisiana during the month of October 2009 led to considerable runoff flowing into the Sabine River basin well into November 2009. Due to this heavy rainfall, the Sabine River Authority was forced to release water from a swollen Toledo Bend Reservoir at the end of October 2009, and the Sabine River began the month of November 2009 already above flood stage along its entire length south of Toledo bend Dam. These extra water flows from Toledo Bend Reservoir combined with runoff flowing into the Sabine River south of the dam to create the worst flooding along the Sabine River since March 2001. Newton and Orange counties both declared states of emergency due to the extensive river flooding, with many homes and subdivisions cut off from surrounding areas and several roadways damaged. Despite the extensive flooding, only a few homes were reportedly flooded due to efforts by the counties to purchase and remove residences from the Sabine River floodplain.