More rounds of life-threatening flash flooding are anticipated for over 2.5 million people in Texas' Hill Country and Big Bend regions through Friday. Torrential rain and flooding prompted Governor Greg Abbott to declare a state of emergency across 59 counties on Tuesday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Weather Prediction Center (WPC) has issued a Level 4 out of 4 flash flood risk for the southern part of the Texas Hill Country. A broader Level 3 threat, encompassing the rest of the Hill Country and the San Antonio metro area, is in effect through Thursday morning.
Communities such as Kerrville, which experienced devastating flooding last July 4 that resulted in 135 fatalities, are included in the Level 3 risk area. Heavy rainfall is expected to resume Wednesday morning, following nearly a foot of rain that fell in Uvalde since Tuesday morning. An image captured north of Uvalde on Tuesday showed floodwaters nearing the 5-foot mark on a roadside flood marker.
Uvalde police reported conducting 24 water rescues on Tuesday. Near D’hanis, Texas, where approximately 10 inches of rain has fallen, widespread washouts and impassable roads were reported. Road closures are also in effect across Kerrville and Hondo. Medina County Sheriff's deputies have been verifying roads inundated with water, with multiple reports of water over roadways in heavy rainfall areas.
Governor Abbott announced the deployment of Blackhawk helicopters and other rescue teams on Tuesday. The National Guard and other state resources were activated in anticipation of the storms. The FOX Forecast Center predicts that this region could receive an additional 2-3 inches of rain through Friday, with isolated areas potentially seeing 3-5 inches.
Flood Watches for life-threatening floods remain active across central and southwestern Texas, including Austin, Kerrville, and Del Rio, through Thursday. A Level 1 flash flood threat extends across Central Texas, North Texas, and other parts of the South, including Arkansas, northern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
The FOX Forecast Center noted that the lack of a strong weather system to move storms along could lead to prolonged downpours over the same areas. This week's flood threat follows a deadly flash flooding incident along the Black River in southeastern Missouri that occurred from Friday into the weekend.
