11:30 p.m. (CDT)
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department says a 7-year-old girl has been killed after a crash that ejected her into floodwaters.
Sheriff’s spokesman Raul Reyna tells the Dallas Morning News (http://bit.ly/1I13fMW ) that the girl, her mother, a man and three other children were in a vehicle that crossed one or two lanes of U.S. Highway 175, hit an embankment and flipped over into the water Saturday evening.
Reyna said the 7-year-old and a 9-year-old were ejected, and that fire department rescuers were able to save the older child. The younger child was carried away in the water, and Reyna confirmed about 8:30 p.m. that crews had found her body.
Reyna said the other children were hospitalized in stable condition. The adults were also hospitalized but their conditions were not known.
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8:30 p.m. (CDT)
As much as 3½ inches of rain has fallen in parts of Houston and surrounding Harris County, leaving some streets under water but no major new problems.
Conditions on Saturday don’t appear nearly as severe as earlier in the week. Harris County Emergency Management officials continue to monitor bayous, creeks and tributaries.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is monitoring two large reservoirs in west Harris County, the Addicks and Barker reservoirs. County officials say the reservoirs aren’t full but the most recent rains could result in flooding on Texas Highway 6.
In Fort Bend County, emergency services spokesman Lach Mullen says streets and roads have handled the most recent rains “surprisingly well” and any high water on roads is typical of routine severe weather.
He says the Brazos River has reached 49 feet, continuing a gradual climb that is expected to reach 50 feet before beginning to fall. No new evacuations have been ordered or recommended.
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8 p.m. (CDT)
Officials say the flood threat is over in Wharton.
Mayor Domingo Montalvo Jr. signed an order early Saturday evening that lifted a mandatory evacuation order issued Thursday. Neighborhoods on the west side of Wharton were evacuated as the waters of the Colorado River rose to alarming heights.
However, City Secretary Paula Favors said Saturday that the river appeared to have crested without flooding any homes, just streets.
The Colorado River crested at 42.5 feet Saturday at Wharton, 3.5 feet above flood stage.
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7 p.m. (CDT)
Heavy rain caused minor flooding inside Minute Maid Park as the Houston Astros hosted the Chicago White Sox.
The downpour began midway through the game Saturday. The rain swept through the area and obscured the view outside as it rolled down the glass panels of the roof.
The water seeped into a couple of concourses in the stadium and drainage issues caused flooding of 3 to 4 inches. The water stood for about five or six minutes, according to the Astros.
The public address announcer told fans during the seventh inning that the stadium would remain open after the game for those who wanted to wait out the weather. Only a handful of fans remained in the stadium an hour after the game.
There was an announcement around 6:45 p.m. that the weather had passed and people needed to leave the ballpark because the doors would close at 7 p.m.
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6:45 p.m. (CDT)
Authorities in Central Texas have recovered the body of a second woman killed in flash flooding last weekend along the Blanco River.
Hays County officials say in a statement that a search team recovered the body Saturday afternoon near the river in the Wimberley area.
It was the second body recovered Saturday along the river. Earlier in the day, a search team recovered a woman’s body along the river about midway between Wimberley and San Marcos.
Autopsies will be needed to identify both women. County officials say it’s not known if the two bodies and that of a man recovered Thursday are those of three of the six people still listed as missing in Hays County from the flood.
The discovery brings to eight the number of people confirmed as killed in the flood and 27 killed in last weekend’s storms statewide. Eleven people remain missing — six in Hays County and five in adjoining Blanco County.
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5:40 p.m. (CDT)
Thunderstorms have been battering areas of rain-weary Houston with heavy downpours and small hail.
The city’s primary electric provider, CenterPoint Energy, reported more than 18,000 customers without power as the late afternoon storms moved through. Outages primarily have been immediately to the west of downtown Houston and in the far north and northeast sections of the city.
Harris County Flood Control District spokesman Jeff Lindner says some street flooding has been reported but describes the situation so far as routine. He says the storms fortunately have been moving and not stationary. Some county rain gauges show rainfall has exceeded 2 inches.
Lindner says officials are monitoring watersheds and bayous.
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4:15 p.m. (CDT)
A search team has recovered a woman’s body from the Blanco River bank near San Marcos.
A Hays County statement says the body was found about 5 miles upstream from San Marcos and about 5 miles downstream from Wimberley.
The statement says no identification has been made pending autopsy on her body or that of a man whose body was found Thursday at the Hays-Blanco county line upstream.
That brings to seven the number of bodies found in Hays County and 26 the number of deaths in Texas storms. It still isn’t known if the two unidentified bodies are on the Hays County list of six missing or the 11 missing across Texas.
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3:10 p.m. (CDT)
National Weather Service forecasters said Saturday that their expectations for more heavy rain in Southeast Texas will depend on timing. A cold front is gradually approaching from the west and northwest, and a weak sea breeze was expected to develop from the Gulf of Mexico nearby to the southeast. Both were expected to produce scattered showers and thunderstorms Saturday.
“There is some concern that these features could collide late this (Saturday) afternoon. If this occurs, the precipitation would increase in coverage and intensity,” according to a National Weather Service statement.
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3 p.m. (CDT)
Authorities in the Southeast Texas city of Wharton are considering lifting a mandatory evacuation after floodwaters from the Colorado River failed to reach homes or businesses.
The river peaked Saturday just shy of major flooding and the National Weather Service predicts it will exit flood stage by the evening. Flooding from the river in the area began Thursday and 30 homes were ordered evacuated Friday.
City spokeswoman Paula Favors says nine people stayed overnight in a Red Cross shelter. She says there haven’t been any reported weather-related injuries in the city of about 8,500 residents.
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2:45 p.m. (CDT)
Forecasters predict more flooding from the Brazos River in the Houston area as the waters from recent storms continue to work downriver.
The National Weather Service says the river near the suburb of Rosharon will remain in moderate flood stage throughout Saturday and should climb to nearly 51 feet, about 8 feet above flood stage.
The suburb of Richmond should rise to a moderate flood stage Saturday afternoon but stop shy of major flooding Monday before receding.
Flooding in the San Jacinto and Colorado rivers are expected to soon subside. The San Jacinto River north of Houston remains in a major flood stage, which should end late Saturday. The Colorado River at Wharton peaked Saturday just shy of major flooding and is predicted to exit flood stage by the evening.
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1:25 p.m. (CDT)
One of the Dallas area’s traffic arteries will remain closed for up to a week as transportation officials pump out floodwaters.
A depression on Loop 12 beneath the stacked Interstate 30 and a Union Pacific rail overpasses flooded during a downpour early Friday, snarling traffic.
The Texas Department of Transportation has brought in heavy-duty pumps to draw the water from the depression into the nearby Trinity River.
For now, the freeway is closed in both directions between Interstate 30 in Dallas and Texas 356 in Irving.
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12:03 p.m. (CDT)
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for portions of Central and South Texas, which could see as much as five inches of rain Saturday if a storm system stalls over the area.
Lead Forecaster Scott Overpeck in Houston says between 1 and 2 inches of rain is projected in the greater Houston area Saturday afternoon and evening.
He says the storms will likely be slow-moving. If it stalls out, some parts of the already-waterlogged area could receive between 4 and 5 inches in a few hours.
Additional rainfall could cause more flooding along the Brazos River and the city’s bayous.
May storms have already resulted in at least 29 deaths, with 25 of those in Texas. At least 11 people are still missing in Texas.
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10:45 a.m. (CDT)
Dallas police say a man’s body was recovered from standing water after storms flooded parts of the metro.
That brings the death toll to 29 people who’ve been killed in storms that began in Texas and Oklahoma over Memorial Day weekend — 25 in Texas alone. Eleven were still missing Saturday.
Dallas police spokesman Juan Fernandez said Saturday that officers found a man, who hasn’t been identified, floating in the water Friday.
Fernandez said the body has been sent to the county medical examiner’s office to determine the official cause of death.
Storms dumped as much as 7 inches across the area Thursday night.
The other Dallas-area death discovered Friday was a man who drowned in his truck after it was swept into a culvert in the suburb of Mesquite.
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9 a.m. (CDT)
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is seeing another round of heavy rain.
The National Weather Service extended a flash flood warning from 8:45 a.m. Saturday to 11:45 a.m. for Dallas, Johnson and Tarrant counties. There were no immediate reports of rescues Saturday morning.
Rivers around the Dallas area have all swelled in the last week.
Before Saturday’s rain, the National Weather Service said 16.07 inches of rain fell across the Dallas area in May, easily eclipsing a 1982 record of 13.66.
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7:45 a.m. (CDT)
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is seeing another round of heavy rain.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning until 8:45 a.m. Saturday for Johnson and Tarrant counties. There were no immediate reports of rescues Saturday morning.
Rivers around the Dallas area have all swelled in the last week.
Before Saturday’s rain, the National Weather Service said 16.07 inches of rain fell across the Dallas area in May, easily eclipsing a 1982 record of 13.66.
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1 a.m. (CDT)
Flood concerns are lingering in Texas, with more storms in the forecast.
At least 28 people have been killed in storms that began pummeling Texas and Oklahoma over Memorial Day weekend. Twenty-four of the deaths have been in Texas alone. Eleven were still missing early Saturday.
Rivers and lakes around Houston, San Antonio and Dallas have all swelled. And forecasters are predicting more rain this weekend.
The Colorado River in Wharton and the Brazos and San Jacinto rivers near Houston are the main areas of concern as floodwaters move from North and Central Texas downstream toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Forecasters said the Colorado River at Wharton could crest on Saturday, causing major flooding in the community 60 miles southwest of Houston.
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11:30 p.m. (CDT)
President Barack Obama has signed a disaster declaration for Texas after severe flooding this week.
The White House said Obama declared that he ordered federal aid to supplement other recovery efforts in the area affected by severe weather since May 4.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had earlier requested a presidential disaster declaration to get federal help for the counties affected.
Obama’s action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Harris, Hays, and Van Zandt counties.
Funding also is available to governments and some nonprofits on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and repairs in Cooke, Gaines, Grimes, Harris, Hays, Navarro, and Van Zandt counties.