Flash floods threaten South as severe storms pummel already waterlogged region
Originally Published: 13 MAY 24 02:38 ET
Updated: 13 MAY 24 10:25 ET
By Robert Shackelford and Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN
(CNN) — Flash flooding could strike across the South early this week as yet another round of severe storms drench already saturated ground, including parts of Texas where hundreds of people were rescued during torrential downpours earlier this month.
More than 9 million people are under flood watches in an expanse stretching from Central Texas to southeast Georgia, including the rain-weary areas just north of Houston. Metropolitan hubs including New Orleans and Shreveport in Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama; and Tallahassee, Florida, could see flooding.
“Severe thunderstorms are expected today from central and east Texas across parts of the Gulf Coast states. The potential may develop for corridors of significant wind gusts, very large hail, and a few tornadoes,” warns the Storm Prediction Center.
The South has been battered by several rounds of rain and severe thunderstorms over the past week. Severe storms moved through Texas and into Louisiana on Sunday, bringing tennis ball-sized hail and prompting the National Weather Service to issue tornado watches and flash flood warnings.
In Tallahassee, officials are warning residents to “stay weather aware in the coming days.” The city, Florida’s capital, is still recovering from Friday’s deadly tornadoes and 100 mph winds. Close to 20% of Tallahassee’s Leon County was still without power Monday morning after the storms broke hundreds of utility poles and downed countless trees and power lines, city officials said.
On Monday, powerful winds, hail up to 4 inches in diameterand a handful of tornadoes are expected as storms advance into the Gulf Coast and another wall of severe storms begins to ramp up across eastern Texas and Louisiana.
The heaviest downpours are forecast from southeastern Louisiana to western Florida. Rainfall rates in the area could reach 3 inches per hour and combine with Sunday’s storms to reach as high as 8 inches of total rainfall.
Parts of the Southeast have endured a relentless barrage of severe storms over the last two weeks, pelting the region with damaging winds and hail and dangerous tornadoes and flooding.
River gauges across eastern Texas and Louisiana are still running high from the rainfall over a week ago, including the Trinity River, which is still in major flood stage northeast of Houston. Several other rivers across both states are at moderate flood stage.
On Tuesday, the threat shifts further southeast and an area extending from the Florida Panhandle to the Carolinas is forecast to see the bulk of the storms.
Texas gets pounded by brutal weather
Severe storms lashing Texas are just the latest in a series of severe weather events plaguing the state since early April.
Dozens of tornadoes have hit from the Texas Panhandle to the Gulf Coast in the last month, leaving paths of destroyed homes and businesses in their wake. Some areas of the state have also been showered with softball-sized hail and months’-worth of rain has soaked East Texas, causing rivers to rise to levels not seen since the devastating floods of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
In early May, in Harris County, Texas, more than 200 people had to be rescued from homes and vehicles as downpours caused rivers to overflow and roads were plunged underwater. Many people had to leave livestock stranded and more than 150 pets were rescued in the storms, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told CNN.
Just days before, some communities north of Houston picked up nearly two months’ worth of rain, which led to evacuations and water rescues.
The back-to-back rounds of rain leave the region especially vulnerable to flash flooding as rivers are already swollen and soils have little capacity to soak up more water.
CNN’s Melissa Alonso contributed to this report.
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