More than a foot of rain fell on Navarro County, south of Dallas on Saturday (October 24) as heavy rains inundated many parts of Texas.
Rains across Texas triggered flash floods, forcing evacuations in at least one county and stranded drivers in the central part of the state, officials said. One man was missing in San Antonio after being swept into a drainage ditch by flood waters, officials said.
A Union Pacific freight train derailed in Navarro County as an overflowing creek swamped the tracks. The derailment left locomotives and some rail cars on their sides, according to a company spokesman and TV footage. There were no reported injuries.
Navarro County Sheriff Elmer Tanner said the rains were the worst he had ever seen.
“I’ve been in Navarro County my whole life and I’ve never seen a rain event like this here. We’ve had over 14 inches of rain today. I’ve never seen anything close to that, to have that much rainfall at one time. It’s just unheard of for me. And to see the way we’ve been impacted here today because of these rains, it’s astounding,” he said.
The rainfall led to the cancellation of dozens of flights at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
The precipitation was expected to intensify over the weekend as moisture from tropical depression Patricia, which struck the Pacific coast of Mexico on Friday as a very powerful hurricane, meets with a storm system coming from the west and over Texas.
Sheriff Tanner said numerous roads had been cut off due to flooding.
“What we’ve basically seeing is our interstate 45 is basically shut down. Several of the state highways, [inaudible] roads and county roads are impassable or have severe water issues. I couldn’t begin to tell you how many high water rescues performed today and how many stranded motorists because they’ve been washed off the roadway or whatever the situation is,” he said.
By Saturday morning, flash flood watches and warnings covered every major population center in Texas, an area in which millions of people live.
Cities in southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, including flood-prone Houston, were bracing for rain totals up to 20 inches (50 cm) starting in the early afternoon. Weather authorities said a coastal flood watches and warnings will be in effect for most of the day on Sunday.
(Reuters)