Flood Emergency! Over 20 Million in Danger Across Southern States
On Sunday, more than 20 million people in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas were under flood danger.
According to officials, a 5-year-old boy died on Sunday in Johnson County, Texas, as a result of heavy floods. At 1:53 a.m. local time on Sunday, emergency management officials received a call reporting a vehicle stranded in swift-moving water. The vehicle was occupied by two adults, one male and one female, as well as a 5-year-old male who attempted to leave the vehicle to walk to dry ground when they were washed away by flood waters, according to officials.
The two adults were rescued at 5:00 a.m. Sunday and sent to a nearby hospital, but the 5-year-old was discovered dead in the water around 7:20 a.m., according to officials.
Judge Lina Hidalgo of Harris County, Texas, announced earlier Sunday that 224 people and 153 dogs had been rescued during the floodwaters. “Unfortunately, what we saw was basically what we predicted, which was a lot of flooding,” Hidalgo said Saturday, noting that in certain spots, flooding has reached “all the way up to the power lines.”
According to Hidalgo, the water on the west fork of the San Jacinto River is still rising, while the east fork crested at 77.8 feet above sea level. The judge advised homeowners that it was too late to evacuate without calling 911.
“We’re not out of the woods yet and a level of uncertainty remains,” Hidalgo said in a statement.
Several rivers in the Houston area are at serious flood stage, with the Trinity River, located northeast of Houston, expected to reach its highest level on record Sunday. Heavy rain is falling in the Houston area late Sunday afternoon and tonight. At this stage, any rainfall is problematic because the earth is completely saturated and streams are worsened.
The area from Beaumont to College Station, or north and east of Houston, received 800% of its usual rainfall in the last week.
The Trinity River in Texas, east of Houston, will remain at a major flood level for at least the next week. It is expected to rise not only higher than it reached during Hurricane Harvey in 2017 but also to break the all-time record set in 1945.
On Saturday morning, the heaviest rain eased in southeast Texas.
However, on Sunday, a mass of heavy rain was anticipated to return, drenching the region with an additional 1 to 3 inches. Heavy rain was also anticipated across most of Oklahoma, with towns such as Oklahoma City and Tulsa receiving 1 to 3 inches.
The severe weather threat was forecast to shift east into the Houston region on Sunday, bringing a chance of flooding rain, as more severe thunderstorms might form on Monday in the central plains from Dallas to Sioux Falls.
The first blistering heat wave of the year could hit portions of the country by the middle of next week, with temperatures anticipated to reach the 90s and 100s in the south.