Drone video: Tropical Storm Alberto leaves Texas beach towns underwater (2024)

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Alberto drowns Surfside Beach, Texas

FOX Weather talks to the mayor of Surfside Beach, Texas to find out how much damage the feet of storm surge from Tropical Storm Alberto did to his town.

FOLLET'S ISLAND, Texas – The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season punished Texas beach towns with storm surge that put communities underwater.

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Watch: Drone video shows Tropical Storm Alberto flooding beach town

Drone video shows storm surge from Tropical Storm Alberto swamping the San Luis barrier island town of Treasure Island, Texas.

A storm chaser took drone video of Treasure Island, a beach town on Follet's Island, a barrier island about 70 miles south of Houston. Block after block of homes are now standing in seawater after it rushed in between the homes.

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A storm chaser had to use a boat to get around San Luis Pass, Texas.

(Derek Smith/LSM / FOX Weather)

Another storm chaser had to use a boat to get around a town next to San Luis Pass on the neighboring barrier island. Water lapped on cars and trucks and flooded garages. A truck towing a boat was in bumper-deep water. The saltwater covered the trailer, so the boat looked like it was floating.

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Texas beach town only accessible by boat thanks to Tropical Storm Alberto

A storm chaser had to use a boat to get to a beach community next to San Luis Pass after Tropical Storm Alberto's storm surge put the barrier island underwater.

While taking video, he ran into Tanner MacNevin who was trapped in his home by the water. The Missouri resident rented the beach house for work. He said he wished he had evacuated because he didn't expect high water with only a tropical storm, not a hurricane.

"Looks like we got about 2-and-a-half, 3 foot of water out here, man," MacNevin said. "I mean, last night it started rolling in and it was about maybe 3 or 4 inches," MacNevin said. "And we get up this morning and there's like 2 foot of water here. I mean, that's pretty crazy. I've never seen anything like this before, especially since I'm from Missouri. It's different out here."

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Alberto puts Surfside Beach underwater

Tropical Storm Alberto's storm surge overwhelmed beach homes in Surfside Beach, Texas on Wednesday.

In the early morning, FOX 26 Houston took a ride out to Surfside Beach. Waves splashed over the breakwaters and crashed onto streets. Police tried to keep cars off flooded sections of road. The double red beach flags were taught in the 50 mph wind, signaling the beach was closed.

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Tropical Storm Alberto submerged Surfside Beach, Texas.

(Surfside Beach Police / FOX Weather)

A resident of Surfside Beach took video of the waves lapping at his car which was parked in his carport. It looked more like he was parked on the beach in the surf.

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Alberto's waves crash on cars

Storm surge from Tropical Storm Alberto, the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, took seawater into homes in Surfside Beach, Texas. Watch as waves are breaking on this car parked in a carport.

Surfside Police took some pictures before dawn of large waves crashing on roads and too close to homes with the water level rising. A town official took more pictures after sunrise to show how much higher the water got. Mailboxes were nearly underwater.

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In the afternoon, Surfside Police were busy with high water rescues.

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