Updated May 25, 2015 6:38 p.m. ET
At least four people were killed and thousands displaced from their homes after record rainfall caused heavy flooding in the south-central U.S. this weekend, with more severe storms expected Monday night.
Texas and Oklahoma suffered the brunt of the damage as torrential rain and tornadoes swept away homes, roads and bridges. Officials said it was some of the most severe flooding in recent memory, with high-water marks up to 5 feet in some homes in Texas.
“A lot of the roads and bridges have been completely washed away,” said Keli Cain, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.
In Oklahoma, officials reported three deaths. A firefighter in Claremore died while attempting a water rescue, and in Tulsa, a 33-year-old woman died in a traffic-related accident. A 37-year-old man from Sapulpa also died.
The firefighter was identified as Jason Farley, according to the Facebook page for the Claremore Fire Department. Mr. Farley likely drowned when he stepped into a storm drain while trying to rescue residents from a home, according to local news reports.
Another man was found dead in San Marcos, Texas, according to a posting on the city’s website. No information about his identity or cause of death was available, the posting said. Tom Vinger, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said there was no confirmed death toll yet for Texas because most of the numbers were being handled at the local level.
In Hays County, between Austin and San Antonio, authorities were searching for 12 people who went missing in floodwaters. They were believed to be attending the same social function in Wimberley. The county was among the hardest hit over the weekend, especially the cities of San Marcos and Wimberley.
Just over the border from Del Rio, Texas, in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, a tornado killed at least 13 people and destroyed homes and vehicles, according to the Associated Press.
On top of flash flooding in Hays County, a tornado also touched down, exacerbating the damage, and authorities asked people not to return to damaged areas, citing contaminated water.
Over 1,000 people were holed up in shelters after hundreds of homes were damaged in Hays County, according to Kharley Smith, the county’s emergency management coordinator. She said in a weekend press conference that the storm decimated entire streets and downed power lines and trees.
The damage in Hays County alone was likely “millions of dollars,” said Kenneth Bell, the emergency management coordinator for San Marcos, according to the Associated Press. Mr. Bell said in a press conference Monday that the flooding was a “very historical event,” but noted it was not unusual for the county’s river ways to be flooded.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has declared dozens of counties in a state of disaster and visited some of the most damaged areas on Monday. “This is a huge challenge going on across the entire state,” he said in a news conference Monday.
May already marked the wettest month on record for Oklahoma, shattering the previous record from 1989, officials said.
Before the rainfall this month, many parts of Oklahoma and Texas had been in severe drought. With the weekend rainfall, the Blanco River that runs through central Texas also surpassed record flows set in the 1920s. The river peaked this weekend at over 43 feet in Hays County, closing a nearby highway, according to officials.
Widespread severe thunderstorms were expected for Monday night in central and eastern Texas and southern Oklahoma, according to the National Weather Service. The agency also warned about the possibility of hurricane-force winds, tornadoes and baseball-sized hail. Over the weekend, tornado warnings were issued for states stretching from Kansas to Illinois to Iowa, according to the Associated Press.
Write to Nicole Hong at nicole.hong@wsj.com
At least four people were killed and thousands displaced from their homes after record rainfall caused heavy flooding in the south-central U.S. this weekend, with more severe storms expected Monday night.
Texas and Oklahoma suffered the brunt of the damage as torrential rain and tornadoes swept away homes, roads and bridges. Officials said it was some of the most severe flooding in recent memory, with high-water marks up to 5 feet in some homes in Texas.
“A lot of the roads and bridges have been completely washed away,” said Keli Cain, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.
In Oklahoma, officials reported three deaths. A firefighter in Claremore died while attempting a water rescue, and in Tulsa, a 33-year-old woman died in a traffic-related accident. A 37-year-old man from Sapulpa also died.
The firefighter was identified as Jason Farley, according to the Facebook page for the Claremore Fire Department. Mr. Farley likely drowned when he stepped into a storm drain while trying to rescue residents from a home, according to local news reports.
Another man was found dead in San Marcos, Texas, according to a posting on the city’s website. No information about his identity or cause of death was available, the posting said. Tom Vinger, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said there was no confirmed death toll yet for Texas because most of the numbers were being handled at the local level.
In Hays County, between Austin and San Antonio, authorities were searching for 12 people who went missing in floodwaters. They were believed to be attending the same social function in Wimberley. The county was among the hardest hit over the weekend, especially the cities of San Marcos and Wimberley.
Just over the border from Del Rio, Texas, in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, a tornado killed at least 13 people and destroyed homes and vehicles, according to the Associated Press.
On top of flash flooding in Hays County, a tornado also touched down, exacerbating the damage, and authorities asked people not to return to damaged areas, citing contaminated water.
Over 1,000 people were holed up in shelters after hundreds of homes were damaged in Hays County, according to Kharley Smith, the county’s emergency management coordinator. She said in a weekend press conference that the storm decimated entire streets and downed power lines and trees.
The damage in Hays County alone was likely “millions of dollars,” said Kenneth Bell, the emergency management coordinator for San Marcos, according to the Associated Press. Mr. Bell said in a press conference Monday that the flooding was a “very historical event,” but noted it was not unusual for the county’s river ways to be flooded.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has declared dozens of counties in a state of disaster and visited some of the most damaged areas on Monday. “This is a huge challenge going on across the entire state,” he said in a news conference Monday.
May already marked the wettest month on record for Oklahoma, shattering the previous record from 1989, officials said.
Before the rainfall this month, many parts of Oklahoma and Texas had been in severe drought. With the weekend rainfall, the Blanco River that runs through central Texas also surpassed record flows set in the 1920s. The river peaked this weekend at over 43 feet in Hays County, closing a nearby highway, according to officials.
Widespread severe thunderstorms were expected for Monday night in central and eastern Texas and southern Oklahoma, according to the National Weather Service. The agency also warned about the possibility of hurricane-force winds, tornadoes and baseball-sized hail. Over the weekend, tornado warnings were issued for states stretching from Kansas to Illinois to Iowa, according to the Associated Press.
Write to Nicole Hong at nicole.hong@wsj.com
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