Massive floods inundate Houston area as downpours continue

Hundreds of people have been rescued from floodwaters in and around Houston over the weekend as nearly 2 feet of rain fell in some areas and continued falling Sunday.

“Some of the storms could be producing the heavier downpours,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Hayley Adams.

In the past week, 20 inches of rain have fallen near Lake Livingston, about 60 miles north of Houston, according to meteorologists. Closer northeast Houston suburbs have seen up to a foot of rain. Sunday was expected to bring at least 3 more inches for the entire region, with up to 8 inches in some areas, according to Adams.

“It’s going to keep rising this way,” Houston resident Miguel Flores Jr. told the Associated Press. “We don’t know how much more. We’re just preparing for the worst.”

No deaths or serious injuries have been reported due to the rain, but first responders have carried out hundreds of water rescues.

Regional authorities said more than 400 people were loaded onto airboats and transported through flooded streets. Some people were pulled off rooftops because their homes had filled with water.

Houston is no stranger to devastating floods. One of the nation’s lowest lying metro areas, the city was devastated by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, when about 100 people died and 60,000 were rescued.

The massive Houston metro area is crisscrossed by about 1,700 miles of channels, creeks and streams that drain into the Gulf of Mexico. The city has a system of reservoirs and bayous designed to protect against flooding, but it is nearly 100 years old and did not account for the area’s significant population boom.

With News Wire Services