renewed flash – More than 60 million people across parts of the South and Texas face the threat of flash flooding this week after heavy rain soaked the region over the holiday weekend. From inundated roads in North Carolina to rescues in Texas and a death reported in Mississi
Flash flooding was already moving through Henderson County, North Carolina, early Tuesday, with the local fire department responding to numerous calls as roads disappeared under rising water.
In Bat Cave, North Carolina, video from Sunday showed how quickly the water can overwhelm a neighborhood after days of heavy rain. By the time this week’s threats returned, the ground was already soaked, leaving little room for the next round to drain away.
Mississippi’s danger also turned fatal. Governor Tate Reeves said one person died as a result of flooding in Forest County on Monday. Rushing floodwaters surrounded a stranded vehicle at a low-lying crossing, immobilizing the sedan and trapping its occupants—an adult driver and an infant.
Texas and the Southeast Gulf Coast saw their own reminders of how fast conditions can change. Police in Beeville, in Texas’ Coastal Bend, rescued a driver and an infant from fast-moving floodwaters Saturday after rain over the weekend soaked the region.
Since Friday, 6 to 8 inches of rain have fallen across parts of the Southeast. The numbers matter because they describe what happens when rainfall stacks up instead of clearing out—soils become saturated, and flash flood risk spikes even when storms aren’t “headline” storms in size alone.
The week ahead comes with multiple storm systems moving across the southern U.S. and tapping into more tropical moisture, bringing drenching rain through the workweek. Relief is complicated by what has already happened: soils are saturated across much of the South after last week’s precipitation and are vulnerable to more flash flooding.
A Level 2 out of 4 risk of flash flooding covers a corridor from New Orleans to southern Virginia through Wednesday morning. according to the NOAA Weather Prediction Center (WPC). And parts of North and Central Texas sit in another bull’s-eye for Tuesday’s threat. with a Level 2 flood threat covering Dallas. Austin and San Antonio.
As Tuesday turns to Wednesday, the risk shifts. The flood threat is expected to move into Corpus Christi, Houston and Lake Charles, Louisiana. Officials stress that this will not be a quick-hitting event. Storms are expected to target the same corridors from the Texas coast through the lower Mississippi Valley through Friday.
Another widespread 2 to 3 inches of rain is expected through the workweek—rain on ground already used to being waterlogged.
That comes as a cruel irony for a region that has been gripped by Extreme Drought conditions. The rain can help, but it also creates a dangerous tradeoff when it arrives in repeated rounds, turning saturated streets and low-lying crossings into traps.
This developing story is expected to continue changing as storms move and new threat corridors are updated.
flash flooding Texas floods South United States weather NOAA Weather Prediction Center Beeville Henderson County Bat Cave Forest County Tate Reeves extreme drought
Flash floods are scary as hell.
So like… they just keep getting rain and nothing can drain? I saw something about NC roads disappearing and it’s crazy. Thought we were past this after the holiday weekend or whatever.
Wait a second, wasn’t Henderson County supposed to be safer? I swear it’s always the same places every year. And that story about the infant in the vehicle… I don’t get how people end up there if the water is already moving through.
6 to 8 inches since Friday sounds like “normal rain” to me, but then they say flash flood risk spikes even if storms aren’t huge?? So is it really the rain amount or like the government not cleaning drains or something. Also, why are they acting surprised when the ground’s already soaked… that seems obvious. I feel bad for the driver and baby though, that part is just awful.