AUSTIN, Texas – The National Weather Service issued a new flash flood watch on Thursday for large parts of Texas, where severe weather this week has left at least 16 people dead, damaged thousands of structures and flooded cities such as Houston and Austin. The warning stretches from south of San Antonio to Dallas, through Oklahoma, where severe weather this week killed an additional six people, and into Kansas. Thunderstorms pelted large parts of the affected region on Thursday morning. Hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate flood-threatened areas of the state on Wednesday as torrential rains battered the state. People were told to stay away from more than 200 homes in Parker County where the Brazos River was poised to overflow its banks about 30 miles (50 km) west of Fort Worth on Wednesday night, county officials said. "The river is coming up fast and flowing at dangerous volumes," Parker County Judge Mark Riley told a news conference, adding shelters were available. The death toll in Texas was expected to rise, with about a dozen people still missing and more thunderstorms pelting the already flooded cities of Houston and Austin. In Hays County alone, nine people were missing after flood waters on Monday swept away homes from their foundations. Three people in the county, about 30 miles (50 km) southwest of Austin, were already confirmed dead. At least three people were injured on Wednesday when a tornado hit a natural gas drilling rig near the Texas panhandle city of Canadian, the Hemphill County sheriff said. The return of heavy rains was impeding emergency rescue efforts across the state. "The river is going to start to rise again," said Kharley Smith, the Hays County Emergency Management coordinator. "It is going to shift the previously inspected debris piles." Floods damaged about 4,000 structures and snarled transport in Houston, the fourth most-populous U.S. city, where more than a thousand vehicles were trapped in rising water. The storms dealt a blow to air travel, with nearly 240 flights canceled as of 5:30 p.m. at airports in Dallas and Houston, among the nation's busiest. The National Weather Service issued flash flood watches for parts of North Texas and large sections of Oklahoma. Near Dallas, police evacuated people living near a dam that had threatened to burst and told people to move livestock to higher ground. About 11 inches (28 cm) of rain fell in Houston on Monday, while parts of Austin were hit by as much as 7 inches (18 cm).
There was no damage estimate available for Texas, which has a $1.4 trillion-a-year economy and is the country's main domestic source of energy. The latest victim of the deadly storms that brought flooding on Monday was a boy whose body was recovered near the central city of San Marcos, Hays County officials said. The boy, who has not been identified, was thought to have been swept away in Blanco River floods that ripped houses off their foundations, county officials said. There were nine people missing in the county after the flooding. At least six people were killed by the severe weather in Houston, where flooding turned streets into rivers in the fourth largest U.S. city and left more than a thousand vehicles submerged at one point in rushing waters. There was no damage estimate available for Texas, which has a $1.4 trillion-a-year economy and is the country's main domestic source of energy as a well as an agricultural and manufacturing power. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Doina Chiacu)AUSTIN, Texas – The National Weather Service issued a new flash flood watch on Thursday for large parts of Texas, where severe weather this week has left at least 16 people dead, damaged thousands of structures and flooded cities such as Houston and Austin.The warning stretches from south of San Antonio to Dallas, through Oklahoma, where severe weather this week killed an additional six people, and into Kansas. Thunderstorms pelted large parts of the affected region on Thursday morning.Hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate flood-threatened areas of the state on Wednesday as torrential rains battered the state.People were told to stay away from more than 200 homes in Parker County where the Brazos River was poised to overflow its banks about 30 miles (50 km) west of Fort Worth on Wednesday night, county officials said."The river is coming up fast and flowing at dangerous volumes," Parker County Judge Mark Riley told a news conference, adding shelters were available.The death toll in Texas was expected to rise, with about a dozen people still missing and more thunderstorms pelting the already flooded cities of Houston and Austin.In Hays County alone, nine people were missing after flood waters on Monday swept away homes from their foundations. Three people in the county, about 30 miles (50 km) southwest of Austin, were already confirmed dead.At least three people were injured on Wednesday when a tornado hit a natural gas drilling rig near the Texas panhandle city of Canadian, the Hemphill County sheriff said.The return of heavy rains was impeding emergency rescue efforts across the state."The river is going to start to rise again," said Kharley Smith, the Hays County Emergency Management coordinator. "It is going to shift the previously inspected debris piles."Floods damaged about 4,000 structures and snarled transport in Houston, the fourth most-populous U.S. city, where more than a thousand vehicles were trapped in rising water.The storms dealt a blow to air travel, with nearly 240 flights canceled as of 5:30 p.m. at airports in Dallas and Houston, among the nation's busiest.The National Weather Service issued flash flood watches for parts of North Texas and large sections of Oklahoma.Near Dallas, police evacuated people living near a dam that had threatened to burst and told people to move livestock to higher ground.About 11 inches (28 cm) of rain fell in Houston on Monday, while parts of Austin were hit by as much as 7 inches (18 cm).
There was no damage estimate available for Texas, which has a $1.4 trillion-a-year economy and is the country's main domestic source of energy.The latest victim of the deadly storms that brought flooding on Monday was a boy whose body was recovered near the central city of San Marcos, Hays County officials said.The boy, who has not been identified, was thought to have been swept away in Blanco River floods that ripped houses off their foundations, county officials said. There were nine people missing in the county after the flooding.At least six people were killed by the severe weather in Houston, where flooding turned streets into rivers in the fourth largest U.S. city and left more than a thousand vehicles submerged at one point in rushing waters.There was no damage estimate available for Texas, which has a $1.4 trillion-a-year economy and is the country's main domestic source of energy as a well as an agricultural and manufacturing power. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
