The Texas governor has issued a disaster declaration for six counties hit by severe weather and flooding this week.
The Latest on severe weather in parts of the U. S. (all times local):
4:30 p.m.
Texas’ governor has issued a disaster declaration for six counties hit by severe weather and flooding this week.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s Thursday declaration includes three counties in far South Texas — Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties. It also includes three in the Corpus Christi area — Aransas, Nueces and San Patricio counties.
Both areas experienced flooding this week after being inundated with rains.
Abbott said in a news release that even before the declaration, he’d authorized the use of all available resources of state government and of political subdivisions to aid in response efforts.
Texas is among several states that have experienced flooding this week after heavy rainfall. Flooding has also occurred in Pennsylvania, Montana, Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. And forecasters say much of the central and southeast U. S. are at risk of severe storms on Friday.
___
4:05 p.m.
An official in the South Texas city of McAllen says streets are “flooded pretty much all over town.”
Kevin Pagan, the emergency management coordinator in McAllen, said the city had received some rain on Wednesday but nothing like the amounts on Thursday. McAllen has nearly 143,000 residents and is along the U. S.-Mexico border.
Authorities conducted several dozen water rescues Thursday in McAllen of people afraid they wouldn’t be able to leave their flooded subdivisions or trapped in vehicles on roadways.
Pagan says the city likely got 7 to 10 inches (18 to 25 centimeters) of rain in some areas on Thursday. He says it’s been nearly 15 years since McAllen got that much rain.
Pagan says McAllen didn’t get any rainfall from Hurricane Harvey, which inundated other parts of Texas with more than 50 inches of rain.
___
3:20 p.m.
The mayor of Mission, Texas, says officials have performed more than 200 water rescues amid flooding from heavy rainfall.
Mayor Armando O’Caña says that those rescues have been done sine rain began early Thursday morning in the city just west of McAllen. Unlike neighboring areas, Mission didn’t get heavy rainfall Wednesday.
He says, “The storms came in and then they stopped on top of Mission.”
The city has more than 84,000 residents. It’s preparing to open a 24 hour shelter at a local high school.
O’Caña said people have been rescued from their homes, cars trapped on roads, an adult day care center and from local motels. He didn’t have an estimate of how many homes might have been flooded.
He says, “We’re still conducting life-saving rescues as we speak.”
___
2:30 p.m.
Officials in one county in far South Texas say that more than 100 people have been rescued from flooding there.
The Brownsville Herald reports that Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño said Thursday that he’s been told that there were more than 100 rescues on Wednesday.
Trevino said that a shelter in Los Fresnos had about 25 people.
As of early Thursday afternoon, Treviño said the hardest hit areas in Cameron County included Harlingen, Rio Hondo and Los Fresnos.
He says, “Thankfully, there has been no loss of life.”
___
11:50 a.m.
Officials in far South Texas are distributing sandbags and rescuing residents from floodwaters as rain continues to fall after series of thunderstorms have hammered the area over the last several days.
National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Speece said Thursday morning that the rain was expected to continue throughout the day before moving out by Friday.
Department of Public Safety Lt. Johnny Hernandez tells KRGV television station that more than 15 people had to be rescued Wednesday from one flooded neighborhood in Mercedes, in far south Texas.
Storms that have moved across the Texas coastal region this week have also brought heavy rains to areas that less than a year ago were hit by flooding from Hurricane Harvey, including the Beaumont-Port Arthur area, east of Houston.
This item has been corrected to reflect that Speece spoke Thursday, instead of Wednesday.
___
7 a.m.
Forecasters say much of the central and southeast U. S. will be at risk of severe storms as the weekend approaches.
The national Storm Prediction Center says two regions will be at most risk of strong to severe thunderstorms Friday. They include an area that encompasses parts of western Oklahoma, western Kansas and eastern Colorado.
Also Friday, storms could be severe in the Deep South, especially in parts of southern Arkansas; northern Louisiana; northern Mississippi, northern Alabama; and parts of Tennessee.
Forecasters say high winds and hail will be the primary threats, though some tornadoes will also be possible.
On Saturday, there’s a threat of severe storms in parts of Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas that includes the cities of Oklahoma City; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Springfield, Missouri.
