Heavy rain, strong winds and the potential for tornadoes was forecast for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle into Monday. More than 10 million people in Texas and Louisiana are under flash-flood watches, the firm said in an update on its website.
Advertisement
Rain should continue through part of the week.
Heavy rains, gusty winds and tidal rises of up to 5 feet prompted a coastal flood advisory for the upper Texas Gulf Coast. The driver who was unharmed, abandoned the vehicle on the road when emergency responders arrived… The train, which was traveling south, was carrying gravel. In southeast Texas, another 6 to 12 inches (15-30cm) were on their way overnight – even more in isolated spots. But relentless showers were the only comparison to Memorial Day storms that killed more than 30 people in Texas and Oklahoma and stranded 2,500 cars around Houston.
So far there have been no reports of any injuries or deaths directly related to Patricia.
In San Antonio, a woman reported her boyfriend was swept into a drainage ditch as he walked his dog early Saturday.
A voluntary evacuation was ordered for residents of the Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston County.
Patricia made landfall Friday along Mexico’s Pacific Coast as a Category 5 storm.
Many parts of the state could see more than 8 inches (20 cm) of rain over the weekend, said the statement from the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
Most of the costs in Texas will be for infrastructure such as roads and bridges, and the US government may cover numerous expenses through the National Flood Insurance Program, Watson said. “We had drought conditions we were dealing with”.
Authorities say the heavy rain caused less damage than it might have, thanks to the parched ground and lessons learned from May floods.
Fix teams cleared the derailed cars by Sunday morning, but they were not expected to be righted for several hours and the rail line was not due to reopen until Monday at the earliest, Union Pacific spokesman Jeff DeGraff said.
“The public responded well. For the most part they heeded our warnings”, Sanchez said.
The soaking helped firefighters near Austin fully contain a long-simmering wildfire that had burned 7 square miles and destroyed almost 70 homes. Clearing skies also allowed a Formula One championship in Austin to proceed after the rain washed out weekend qualifying laps and threatened a race that brings fans from around the globe.
Advertisement
Houston Mayor Annise Parker said, “There will be localised flooding in Houston, primarily street flooding in Houston and Harris County, because of our terrain”.
