Although the icy conditions were expected to persist in parts of Oklahoma and Kansas through the end of Saturday, temperatures on Sunday were expected to be above freezing in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, allowing the region to thaw out, the National Weather Service said.
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The Metroplex is under a flash flood watch through Sunday evening, when the rain is forecast to finally let up in North Texas. The victims include a man in Garland, northeast of Dallas. He was unable to get out of his vehicle before it was submerged Friday, Garland city officials said.
At least one other person remained missing Friday night. High water levels have also forced the closure of several roads in northern Texas.
Authorities say at least five people have died in accidents related to the ice storm, and thousands of people are without power. A local sheriff’s deputy was swept away trying to rescue the 70-year-old woman, but a dive team later found and rescued the deputy, who was clinging to a tree.
Downed power lines have been reported in almost every community across central Oklahoma, CNN affiliate KOCO said. The body of a 33-year-old woman was found downstream from her vehicle just west of Fort Worth after it was washed off the road in waters flowing 10 to 12 feet above the banks of Rock Creek, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tim Jones said. Salazar radioed her supervisors that she couldn’t wait for firefighters to arrive, said Terry Grisham, a Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department spokesman. In Topeka, because of the spike in accidents, police said officers would respond only to accident calls that involved injuries, disabled vehicles, hit-and-runs or driving under the influence.
Large amounts of debris got swept away by floodwaters In Texas as the state broke the record for the most rainfall.
The rain and icy conditions were expected to continue on Sunday, prompting concern for millions of drivers expected to hit the roads after Thanksgiving on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
A significant section of the United States – from western Texas through Oklahoma and Kansas and into western Arkansas – has been coping with a weather system that brought rain and freezing temperatures.
In Oklahoma, road crews have been applying salt and sand in the Panhandle and northwestern part of the state since Thursday amid an ice storm warning that was in effect until noon Saturday.
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“Only thing we have to worry about now is the overpasses and bridges”.
