HOUSTON (KTRK) -- People across southeast Texas were in clean-up mode Saturday after severe storms swept through overnight.
Heavy rains flooded streets and strong wind knocked out power to some homes.
Moving in waves, rain turned creeks into fast-moving rivers, streets into lakes and curbs into waterfalls.
"I mean, the creek is in the yard!" said Eugene Curtis, who lives near Clear Creek.
Fort Bend County was one of the hardest areas hit by the storms Friday night.
Rain poured down for hours, which left a mess for motorists Saturday morning.
Water was six feet deep in some places at the intersection of Highway 90 and the Grand Parkway, shutting down traffic and leaving cars stranded.
People who live nearby couldn't resist snapping pictures.
"I knew it rained a lot, but I did not expect to find this this morning," Les Polvado said.
Water flowed into the intersection from higher ground, keeping water levels rising for hours even after it stopped raining.
"My son had to call in because he couldn't get into work. I imagine it's going to slow a lot of people down," Adolph Garcia said.
Some businesses were even closed for most of the morning.
"I say I need to open the store. He said, 'lady, move, move," Margarita Armenta with Pilgrim's Dry Cleaners said.
Miguel Sandbal managed to open his Mexican restaurant, but customers never arrived.
"I still have to pay all my employees and I'm not going to have any customers. The police won't let anybody come in to get breakfast or lunch," he said.
Just a mile away, the Sugar Land Airport was still open, but barely recognizable. The runway was buried under feet of water.
Ann Smith, an employee of a restaurant in Fort Bend County, described to us what it was like inside her work place when the rain hit Friday night.
"It was hitting the windows of the restaurant and it would come and it would be there for 10 minutes and our lights flickered and everything and it would stop and it came back and it stopped; so thankfully I'm trying to get to my car before it starts pouring again," she said.
In Katy, a Tornado Warning caught the attention of parents at a school play inside Beckendorff Junior High School. At one point, attendees moved into the gymnasium but later continued the program. When the rain finally hit, it hit hard off the Grand Parkway in Cinco Ranch; the rain almost came down sideways.
In southwest Houston, a huge lightning strike was captured on video. Video from our Tower Cam also captured at least one transformer blow out.
We also caught up with the storm as it moved through the Garden Oaks area near 38th Street and Shepherd. There was lots more rain at the Katy Freeway and Shepherd and the Kirby/Richmond areas. The storm brought lightning and hail along with the rain.
And around 9pm, small hail started falling over the KTRK-TV studio in southwest Houston.
If you caught photos or video of this event, you can upload them at iWitness.abc13.com or email them to news@abc13.com.
(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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