The almost ceaseless rain caused flooding on roads in parts of Texas on May 30, after the unrelenting weather caused the deaths of at least 31 people over the Memorial Day weekend that resulted in U.S. President Barack Obama signing a disaster declaration for the state of Texas.
Obama’s disaster declaration freed up federal funding to help in the rebuilding of areas devastated by the storms, such as Van Zandt, Cooke, Grimes, Gaines, Harris, Navarro and Hays counties. As of this writing, no estimate has been provided for the damages absorbed by the state.
Texas sustained record rainfall in May. This Saturday afternoon and evening in Houston, as much as 3.5 inches of rain fell as the flooding split houses off their ground roots, turned streets into rivers, drowned several vehicles and stranded people in their houses and cars.
Lakes and rivers surrounding cities such as Dallas, San Antonio and Houston remained, increasing above dangerous levels, authorities said.
In Wharton, approximately 60 miles southwest of Houston, water has expanded constantly since Thursday, when the Colorado River started overflowing into the city and the office of the mayor released a mandatory evacuation order for around 900 people residing close to it.
"We are hanging in there. No homes have been affected yet, we have about 35 homes evacuated," Paula Favors, city spokeswoman stated.
Carrollton Police rode a raft to evacuate residents from the Sandy Lake mobile home park, flooded by the weekend’s rapid stream of rains.
Authorities stated that bayous were reacting adequately and that no new evacuations were recommended or ordered in riverfront and low-lying regions of southeast Texas outside the country’s fourth-largest city.
There would be scattered thunderstorms along a cold front, according to the forecast of the National Weather Service, extending from Texas to the northeastern United States.
The bodies of two women killed in the flash flooding were recovered on Saturday from the Blanco River in Hayes County, officials in Central Texas announced in a statement, raising the death toll from the flooding to 24. Flash flood warnings were distributed to numerous counties in North Texas, including Dallas County.
In nearby Oklahoma, at least one state trooper fired on a civilian, killing him instantly after he clashed with several military officers who had instructed him to stay away from the rising water on a road near the town of Okmulgee.
