Heavy rain continued to fall in the Houston area and other parts of South Texas on Friday, leaving thousands under flood warnings and many without power, forcing schools to close, roads to flood and residents to evacuate. Ta.
Flash flood warnings were issued early Friday morning for more than 840,000 people in Harris, Liberty and Montgomery counties. About 15,000 customers were without power in those three counties on Friday, according to PowerOutage.us, which aggregates data from utilities across the country.
More rain is expected after Harris County was declared a disaster on Thursday after the San Jacinto River swelled outside Houston. Residents near the east fork of the river were ordered to evacuate.
On Friday, Harris County Executive Lina Hidalgo told residents half a mile east of the river that they were “extremely vulnerable” and that hundreds of structures were at risk of flooding. The evacuation recommendation was repeated.
“This threat continues and the situation will only get worse,” he told a news conference.
“Today's situation threatens the safety of life,” Hidalgo said, adding: “So we want to convey how important this is.”
He said up to 15 people were rescued overnight and up to 11 people were rescued from flooded vehicles and homes on Thursday. Harris County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Coordinator Mark Sloan said at a news conference Friday that law enforcement and emergency personnel would be at risk if people did not follow instructions to evacuate.
Several school districts have closed, Hidalgo said.
The Houston Police Department said commuters should use headlights and drive carefully and slowly due to reduced visibility as rain continues to fall across the city. Forecasters in the Houston area say strong winds, hail and isolated tornadoes are possible.
Thunderstorms brought heavy rain, forecasters said, adding up to 4 inches of rain and an additional half-inch to 1-inch increase. Excessive rain is possible from West Texas to the Gulf Coast and Tennessee Valley into Saturday morning, the National Weather Service said.
In Polk County, emergency management officials warned Friday that continued rain could cause water levels in the Trinity River to rise.
judson jones Contributed to the report.