Severe floods swept cities across the southern Texas and Mexico’s border as half a year of rain soaked the area in less than two days. Officials warned more rainfall on Friday and closed schools on the U.S. side.
Geoffrey Bogorad, senior forecaster for the Brownsville National Weather Services Office, said the thunderstorm brought part of Texas to 10 to 15 inches of rain in part of Texas. He said up to four inches are expected to fall as the Weather Bureau warned of more flash floods on Friday.
Rain flooded homes and roads and prompted at least nine school districts in Rio Grande Valley to cancel Friday’s classes. Bogollard said several cities in South Texas had record rainfall this week in late March, with Harlingen landing 12 inches and 11 inches in McAllen within 24 hours. Semi-arid areas along the Mexican border usually receive about 25 inches per year.
“This is a particularly dangerous situation,” the Meteorological Bureau said in a statement late Thursday, adding that the flash flooding is life-threatening and the damage can be catastrophic. “Don’t try to travel unless you escape from floods or evacuation orders.”
The storm also soaked Mexico. There weather authorities warned late Thursday that as high as 50 miles an hour overnight, heavy rain and some hail are expected in the border states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon.
The thunderstorm began evacuating Texas on Wednesday. Meteorologists warned another round of thunderstorms, heavy rain and flash flooding were observed on Thursday.
By the afternoon, the storm flooded the houses in McAllen’s house and suffered strong winds, and 70 mph images on social media showed highways and Mexico’s pass-through roads, flooding up to four feet of water.
Police also said the tornado landed on Edcouch on Thursday, although no damage was caused, according to Mr Bogorad.
The water rescue was conducted in Rafiria late Thursday as meteorologists declared a flash flood emergency, urging residents to seek higher ground immediately. Bogollard said many of the water rescues were stuck in rising waters. No injuries were reported.
“I don’t remember seeing this rain in the depths of Texas in March,” he said. “It was a very widespread event.”
Flash flood warnings were active Thursday night in Brooks, Cameron, Idal, Kennego, Kennedy, Starr and Willisi counties and are expected to last until Friday morning. When a flash flood is about to occur or a flash flood occurs, residents should issue a warning when they move to the high ground.
The Texas school districts near Texas, including Donna, Hidalgo, Michwitz, McArent, Mercedes, Perl, Progreso, San Benito and Veslaco, announced that they canceled classes Friday, citing the weather. South Texas College also said it will close all campuses on Friday.
Earlier Friday, flood surveillance of 5.4 million people in southern Texas and southeast Louisiana indicated that it was possible flooding.
