The combination of high water and high winds caused havoc for those on the southeast end of nearby Lake Sam Rayburn on Saturday afternoon.

Wind gusts as high as 29 miles per hour out of the northwest, resulted in large waves and whitecaps that crashed into the shore on the southeast side of the lake, causing some damage and great concern to landowners.

The level of the lake approached a record level on Friday, the agency that controls the reservoir and it’s associated dam said it’s personnel were closely monitoring the situation and if need be would increase the amount of release into the Angelina River.

The announcement also said the Corps of Engineers was prepared to release water through the flood gates as the dam, if it became neccesary. For weeks now, the Corps has been releasing water from the dam by way of the two hydroelectric generators at the facility.

The Corps also announced that even though water was rising, water would fall short of flowing through the emergency spillway on the west side of the lake, near Ebeneezer Park.

Shortly after 6:00 on Saturday afternoon, the level of Lake Sam Rayburn was measured at 174.23 feet, which is just short of the record level of 175.1 feet, that was recorded in March of 1992.

The maximum water level for the lake is 176 feet. Over that level, water will begin to flow through the concrete emergency spillway, around the dam and south over Recreational Road 255 and then into the river.

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