10 a.m. (CDT)
The Colorado River is expected to crest two feet lower than previously expected in and around the southeastern Texas city of Wharton, where residents have been asked to evacuate about 300 homes. City spokeswoman Paula Favors said Friday that river level is expected to crest Saturday morning at 43 feet, not the 45 feet predicted Thursday.
She says a 43-foot crest would likely flood several residential streets in low-lying areas of Wharton, a city of roughly 8,500 residents about 60 miles southwest of Houston. Favors says residents have been good about heeding the warnings to head for higher ground.
Recent storms have caused widespread flooding in Texas and nearby states and have been blamed for 20 deaths in Texas and four in Oklahoma. Fourteen people in Texas are also missing.
9:10 a.m. (CDT)
Arkansas transportation officials have closed a section of southbound U.S. Highway 71 north of the Texas border due to flooding along the Red River.
The state Highway and Transportation Department says it closed a 2.47 miles of the southbound lanes Friday morning and that it may soon also have to close the northbound lanes as well. The road would remain closed until the water recedes and engineers can assess any damage.
A flooded 5-mile section of State Highway 41 near the Texas border also remains closed.
Recent storms have caused widespread flooding in the southern Plains and have been blamed for the deaths of 20 people in Texas and four in Oklahoma. Fourteen people in Texas also remain missing.
8:55 a.m. (CDT)
Authorities say the Brazos River in North Texas’ Parker County is rising again due to new rain and the opening of two flood gates upstream at Possum Kingdom Lake.
Joel Kertok, the emergency management spokesman for the county west of Fort Worth, said Friday that the river there has risen above flood stage again after dropping below it Thursday night.
On Thursday, water was lapping at the foundations of 11 homes as the river crested at 23.58 feet before dropping to about 20 feet. The flood stage is at 21 feet. The level rose Friday to 21.4 feet and was expected to rise more with the opening of the flood gates.
Residents of about 250 homes near the river, most in the Horseshoe Bend community, were asked to voluntarily evacuate.
7:55 a.m. (CDT)
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says troopers rescued a man who was swept off a bridge by floodwaters, then jailed him on a public intoxication complaint.
The patrol says the unnamed man was swept away about 8:30 p.m. Thursday while walking across a closed portion of U.S. Highway 70 at the Muddy Boggy Bridge in Choctaw County. Troopers Kevin Antwine and Nathan Mullins put a boat in the water and found the man clinging to a tree about 200 yards south of the highway.
The patrol says that once he was transported back to shore, the man was arrested by Choctaw County sheriff’s deputies on a complaint of public intoxication
7:50 a.m. (CDT)
The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for much of Arkansas following heavy rainfall across the state.
Forecasters say there will be several rounds of rainfall in Arkansas this weekend as a slow-moving storm system moves across the southern plains. While rainfall totals will generally be 1 to 2 inches with each round, the rainfall combined with already saturated ground will likely cause flash flooding in the northwest half of the state.
The flash flood watch will remain in effect through Saturday night in portions of central, north central, southwest and western Arkansas. Forecasters say area rivers and streams are already flooding or are nearly full, and any additional rainfall the region gets will not be able to drain into waterways.
7:20 a.m. (CDT)
A line of thunderstorms stalled while passing over the Dallas area overnight, dropping as much as 7 inches of rain in some areas as vehicles became trapped on flooded streets and water seeped into homes.
Dallas Fire Rescue said early Friday that crews have responded to about 260 calls that include vehicles trapped in high water and accidents related to the weather since midnight Thursday.
National Weather Service meteorologist Ted Ryan says an average of 3 to 5 inches of rain fell across the area after the thunderstorms stalled over the city.
He says the Dallas suburb of Garland got from 6 to 7 inches of rain. He says flooding along a creek there washed some cars down the street.
6:45 a.m. (CDT)
Johnson County officials say they have evacuated 12 people who were caught in floodwaters.
Officials said some homes in the county some 50 miles south of Dallas were inundated with water late Thursday. Some people were rescued from stranded vehicles.
Texas has been dealing with flooding since heavy rains began at the weekend, worsened by thunderstorms that passed through the state overnight.
The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings for 21 Texas communities including Johnson, Travis and Bastrop counties.
3:30 a.m. (CDT)
Emergency personnel have rescued the occupants of a houseboat that was adrift in Lake Travis in Austin.
Austin-Travis County EMS says the 21 occupants of the boat rescued Friday were not injured.
Responders say the houseboat broke free from Sandy Creek Marina earlier in the day. The area has been blighted by days of relentless rains. Emergency personnel used three boats to attach the houseboat to the dock at the marina.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for parts of Travis, Williamson and Bastrop counties until 4:45 a.m.
This is so typical of city counsels allowing builder to build home in unsafe areas especially here in Texas, all for the mighty Property Tax Dollar. That’s why I wish they would get rid of property tax and raise sale tax. You would only have to bump it up a cent and that would cover it and every one would contribute. Debra Medina had the right idea.
“Arkansas transportation officials have closed a section of southbound U.S. Highway 71 north of the Texas border due to flooding along the Red River.”
Hmm…I wonder if this was being used as an excuse for the BLM to come in and take over more land since I remember them claiming in a past article, earlier this year (something about a farmer/BLM land dispute in Northern, TX) that stated that any land covered by the Red River is controlled by them, and if the water spills over onto other parts of the land, they claim that the boundaries are widen and they now have control over the land that it spills over to, regardless of whether it recedes back or not.
It wouldn’t surprise me.