Disaster Declaration Issued For Flooded Eastern Texas Region

Paul Fregia II has spent the past few days placing sandbags around his girlfriend’s home in Orange, one of several riverside towns in Southeast Texas inundated by floodwaters after days of heavy rains. He said the flooding was worse when Hurricane Ike hit in 2008, but that the dangers this week have been deceptive. "You don’t see the rain with this flood, you just see the water rising," the 21-year-old Fregia said Wednesday. "It’s creeping up on you, and you don’t know how high it’s going to get."