May 26--More than 11 inches of rain turned Houston into a deadly, soggy mess Tuesday, as rising waters brought an increasing death toll, cut electricty to neighborhoods and stranded motorists in their vehicles.
At least two deaths were reported overnight in Houston, the nation's fourth largest city, bringing to at least 16 the number of people killed by a flurry of storms in Texas and Oklahoma. Authorities just across the border in Mexico were searching for victims in Ciudad Acuwhere a tornado Monday killed 13 people and left at least five others missing.
Nearly a foot of rain fell overnight in parts of Texas, turning rivers and streams into powerful floodwaters that reshaped shorelines and swept away homes.
Authorities said they had narrowed the number of missing to 13 along the Blanco River in central Texas. That included a group of eight people who disappeared after a vacation home in Wimberley was torn from its foundation, pushed downriver and slammed into a bridge.
As many as 40 people were missing, 70 homes were destroyed and about 1,400 houses and properties had been damaged in the torrential rainfall that began Saturday in Hays County, just southwest of Austin and including hard-hit Wimberley, said County Commissioner Will Conley. Emergency crews used helicopters and boats to help residents evacuate flooded homes in Webberville, about 15 miles east of Austin.
The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management also reported at least four storm-related fatalities during the holiday weekend.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who toured much of the devastation by air on Monday, said he had declared disasters in 37 counties. Austin, Dallas and Houston reported flooding and scores of water rescues. Hundreds of people were stranded at Toyota Center in Houston after the Rockets' victory over the Golden State Warriors in Monday's NBA playoff game.
"There is no way to candy-coat it," Abbott told reporters. "It is absolutely massive."
President Obama said he spoke with Abbott and expressed his condolences for those coping with the flooding.
"I assured Gov. Abbott that he could count on the help of the federal government," Obama said. "We have FEMA personnel already on the ground. They are coordinating with Texas emergency management authorities, and I will anticipate that there will be some significant requests made to Washington.
"My pledge to him is that we will expedite those requests," Obama said.
Houston Mayor Annise D. Parker said emergency responders had worked throughout the night and into Tuesday, responding to a nearly 50% increase in calls. Since midnight, the Houston Fire Department has received more than 900 calls, of which more than 500 were water-related, she said. Most involved people stranded in their vehicles.
In the two overnight deaths in southwest Houston, one victim was swept away by floodwaters, the other found in a vehicle, said Michael Walter, a spokesman for the city's emergency operations center, which was coping with its first high-level emergency since Hurricane Ike in 2008.
"We are investigating some other reports, so that number is likely to grow," Walter said of the death toll.
Other storm-related deaths in Texas include a man whose body was pulled from the Blanco River, a 14-year-old found with his dog in a Dallas-area storm drain, a south Texas high school senior who died after her car was caught in high water, and a central Texas man whose mobile home was destroyed by severe weather that may have produced a tornado.
Local hospitals canceled elective surgeries to respond to the emergency, and a significant number of vehicles were left stranded on the road, Walter said.
Officials from Houston's flood district advised residents to stay at home Tuesday after the National Weather Service issued a flash-flood warning for parts of surrounding Harris County.
Many waterways overflowed their banks in the Bayou City and surrounding metro area, with a population of more than 6 million. Interstates 10 and 45 -- major arteries through Houston -- both flooded, with some drivers abandoning their cars on the side of the highway. The city's mass transit system suspended rail and bus service; the Houston Independent School District, which serves 215,000 students, canceled classes.
One runway at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was closed Tuesday as a precaution as crews assessed a sinkhole in a grassy area about 250 feet between a taxiway and a runway. An airport spokesman said the sinkhole had not affected flight operations and that planes were being diverted to the airport's six other runways.
The Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, whose jurisdiction includes Houston, reported hundreds of homes flooded on the west side of the county.
"My people are all stuck in the water. We're looking at multiple homes flooded already," Walter said. "Southwest Houston and northwest Houston got hit really hard. We have a police helicopter up right now in the west because there was extensive flooding and the bayous are out of their banks and flooding neighborhoods."
Some workers were forced to spend the night at Houston's massive Galleria mall. During the Rockets-Warriors game at Toyota Center, a flood warning was posted on the arena's scoreboard, and an announcer asked those in attendance not to leave after the game because of the flooding.
Many stayed until early morning, when breakfast was served by staff, and departed after the warning was lifted, Toyota Center Assistant General Manager Amanda "Mandy" Strudler-Mann said on the arena's Facebook page.
Nick Mercadante, 33, said he was trapped at Bellerive Ice Center in the Sharpstown area, sheltering with about 50 others who had gathered for a hockey game.
"For a while it was flowing like a river down to the highway, so even the people in trucks didn't bother leaving because there was nowhere to go," he said.
He said they watched TV reports of others stranded at the Rockets-Warriors game and elsewhere until about 2 a.m., when the rink's cable TV went out.
Mercadante said that he ventured out about 6:30 a.m. in his Volkswagen GTI, taking one highway, then another to avoid closures and flooding as he returned to his home in the nearby West University area. It took him about an hour and a half, he said.
"It's pretty rough," he said. "There's certain cross streets that are totally flooded."
He said he saw cars stuck in the flooding, with some abandoned under overpasses.
At one point, he said, he drove onto the sidewalk to avoid a flooded street and spotted a man standing in an adjacent yard, shocked by the damage.
"He was just standing outside on the lawn looking confused, taking it all in. His street was definitely flooded," Mercadante said. "I gave him a wave."
Although the rains had stopped in Houston by 7 a.m., Mercadante said he planned to stay in.
"It looks OK now, it looks sunny, but you never know the way the weather changes. Hopefully, the worst is passed," he said.
UPDATES
4:06 p.m.: This report has been revised throughout for additional details and for clarity.
11:35 a.m.: This story was updated with new information from Hays County.
This story was first published at 7:05 a.m.
