Drivers warned to avoid I-10 at Louisiana border

HOUSTON -- The Sabine River, which separates Texas and Louisiana, is spilling out of its banks and still rising.

I-10 at the state line was closed of and on all day Tuesday. Drivers have had to detour, using Highway 59 to Shreveport which could take you at least eight hours out of the way.

As of 11 p.m. Tuesday, I-10 westbound from Louisiana into Texas is closed. Texas officials are responsible for eastbound traffic, and Louisiana officials are responsible for westbound traffic.

The Orange County Office of Emergency Management posted to Facebook that area traffic will be diverted to Highway 62. Traffic will also be encouraged to reroute to Beaumont to Highway 69/96.

Orange County officials say there are mandatory evacuations for residents east of Highway 87 and south of I-10, from the railroad tracks to the river in Orange. There are voluntary evacuations in downtown Orange as well.

"We're doing the best we can to try and save what we got," said Orange resident Arnold Snowden, who is all too familiar with water running into his home."We had a house and we lost it to Hurricane Rita and it was pretty devastating."

Snowden is trying to ensure the devastation this time around at his Orange home is far less so he's sandbagged and wrapped plastic around his entire house.

"We got pretty much everything down pat so we just have to set it out and ride it out," Snowden said.

He's riding it out even though Orange County officials have called for mandatory evacuations for nearly 2,000 homes in the area.

PHOTOS: High water at I-10 Texas-Louisiana border

"Due to the fact that that we stay right next to the Sabine River it's not even over with. This is just the beginning," Griffith said.

The National Guard and other agencies have been called in for what county officials are describing as a record setting flood after most of the south was inundated by heavy rains and severe storms over the past week.

"At one point the Sabine River was the 5th fastest river in the world. There was so much water. At one point there was 3 times the amount of water coming over Niagara Falls for days, so that's a lot of water coming down the river," said Barry Burton, Orange County Commissioner for Precinct 2.

"I just want to stay focused on saving what little bit we have," said Snowden.

DPS says it will be closely monitoring eastbound traffic overnight into Wednesday to see if there's a need to close the highway.

Governor Abbott is expected to visit the area Wednesday. 

Photos: Aerial views of last week's heavy rainfall

KBMT reports many drivers are diverting through Port Arthur to take the Highway 82 causeway into Louisiana, but TxDOT officials say they do not want to divert people through that route because it also may close abruptly, and it is not designed to handle heavy traffic.

For official updates, click here or follow TxDOT on Twitter or Facebook.