Southeast Texas faced heavier rainfall Sunday, with forecasters warning that flash flooding could occur in Houston after several rounds of storms in recent days prompted evacuations and relief efforts in the region.
The storms have exacerbated dangerous conditions, and forecasters said once the storms pass, rivers could swell for days or even weeks.
About 2.1 million people in Texas were under flood warnings as of Sunday morning, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said, and many flood indicators in Houston are expected to meet or exceed their flood records.
The National Weather Service in Houston said that an additional one to three inches of rain was expected in Southeast Texas and some locations could see an additional four to eight inches of rain. Damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes were also possible.
The heavy rainfall is expected to ease by Sunday evening, the weather service said. Forecasters said that due to recent rounds of rain, flooding could occur earlier than expected under normal conditions.
The Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said that as of 10 a.m. Sunday, there had been 233 human rescues and 164 animal rescues in the county.
As of Sunday morning, Texas authorities had reported no injuries or deaths.
The risk of urban flash flooding in the Houston area was increasing Sunday morning, the weather service said. The Weather Prediction Center saidand the town was under flood watch all evening.
Flash flood warningswhich are issued by the National Weather Service when flooding is imminent, were in place Sunday morning in several Texas counties, including Jasper, Newton and Tyler counties.
Jeremy Justice, hydrologic operations manager at the Harris County Flood Control District, said Saturday that parts of Harris County could experience flooding near the record levels set during the disaster. Hurricane Harvey in 2017an event that called for at least 68 lives and caused $125 billion in damage.
Several Texas rivers had not yet reached their highest flows as of Sunday, but were expected to peak within the next 24 hours. FEMA said. After the peak, rivers recede slowly, leaving rivers above major flood stage until mid-week.
Eleven rivers were in a major flood phase on Sunday, which means The flooding caused excessive flooding of roads and structures and required significant evacuations.
18 other rivers experienced moderate flooding, which may flood some structures and lead to evacuations.
The storms also caused power outages, with about 10,000 customers without power as of Sunday afternoon, according to Oncor, a Texas energy company.
