At least four people have been killed, and hundreds of others have been rescued in floods in South Texas and Mexico after more than 20 inches of rain fell near the border on Thursday and Friday.
Three people have been confirmed dead in a local disaster declaration by a judge in Hidalgo County, about 150 miles southwest of Corpus Christi. The identities of the deceased were not immediately known, officials said.
The fourth person owned in Reinosa, a city in Mexico's Tamaulipas province that crosses the border with Hidalgo County.
Parts of Hidalgo County received 14 inches of rain, which caused “severe property damage,” county officials said. Rain in southern Texas was worth about six months in two days and had subsided by Friday evening.
Officials from nearby Harlingen, who recorded 21 inches of rain, said emergency responders rescued more than 200 residents on Friday, with hundreds more waiting for the rescue.
In Tamaulipas, people were greeted by boats, rescued from the roof and carried waist-high water, according to photos from the state government and state public security spokeswoman. The big bath was completely submerged in the water.
“There was a lot of rain in a few hours,” spokeswoman Blanca Zumaya Escovedo said. She added that the most influenced locations in Tamaulipas are in the cities of Reinosa and Rio Bravo.
People in Primera, Texas, just northwest of Harlingen, are used to preparing for bad weather, resident Victor explained. Southern Texas has experienced several heavy flood events in recent years.
“When I looked at the water, I was regaining all of these feelings, my anxiety, my fear of your house being underwater again,” said Victor, who refused to provide his last name. “It's a feeling you can't shake.”
The National Weather Service said over the next few days, rain was expected to travel northeast towards Mississippi and Arkansas.
John Yun Reports of contributions.
