178 people rescued amid Texas flood watch: 'We're not out of the woods yet'
A flood watch remains in effect for more than 11 million people in Texas and Oklahoma on Saturday as a number of flood warnings were issued as residents are urged not to drive on flooded roads.
During a press conference on Saturday afternoon, Harris County, Texas, Judge Lina Hidalgo said 178 people and 122 pets have been rescued amid the flooding, and no deaths or injuries have been reported.
“Unfortunately, what we saw was basically what we predicted, which was a lot of flooding,” Hidalgo said, noting, in some areas there has been flooding “all the way up to the power lines.”
The east fork of the San Jacinto River crested at 77.8 feet above sea level and the water is still rising on the west fork, according to Hidalgo.
The judge warned that it was too late for residents to evacuate without calling 911.
“We’re not out of the woods yet and a level of uncertainty remains,” Hidalgo said.
In this screen grab from a video, first responders conduct a river rescue during a flood in Splendora, Texas, on May 3, 2024.
Several rivers in the Houston area are at major flood stage, with the Trinity River, located northeast of Houston, likely swelling to its highest level on record today.
Not only is it forecast to go higher than it was during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, but it is likely to surpass its all-time record from 1945.
The heaviest rain has eased up in southeast Texas on Saturday morning, with the region set to experience a reprieve for the day.
However, on Sunday, a mass of heavy rain is positioned to move back in and is expected to drench that region with an additional 1 to 3 inches of rain. There should also be heavy rain across much of Oklahoma, with cities like Oklahoma City and Tulsa facing 1 to 3 inches as well.
Meanwhile, powerful thunderstorms have popped up seemingly every day this week across parts of Texas, and that will be the case again on Saturday.
In this screen grab from a video, floodwaters are shown in a residential neighborhood in Conroe, Texas, on May 3, 2024.
An enhanced risk for severe thunderstorms is in the forecast for parts of western Texas on Saturday and this afternoon and into the evening, strong storms could bring the potential for damaging wind, huge hail and scattered tornadoes to cities like Midland and San Angelo, Texas.
Additionally, that severe weather threat is expected to shift east into the Houston area on Sunday, bringing a flooding rain chance with it as the potential for more severe thunderstorms on Monday in the central plains from Dallas to Sioux Falls is possible.
Across parts of the country, the first scorching heat wave of the year next could happen by the middle of the week as temperatures across much of the south are expected to jump into the 90s and 100s.