The seemingly ceaseless rain swept across areas of soggy Texas again, although new serious flooding appeared to be avoided.
At least 31 people have been killed in storms that began in Texas and Oklahoma last weekend. Twenty-seven of the deaths have been in Texas alone, and 11 people were still missing on Saturday.
As much as 7.62cm of rain fell on Saturday afternoon and evening in Houston, feeding fears of renewed flooding.
Photo: AP
Officials said that bayous were responding well and only one new evacuation order for 30 homes in Wharton southwest of Houston were ordered or recommended in low-lying and riverfront areas of southeast Texas outside the nation’s fourth-largest city.
The Brazos River southwest of Houston was the main area of concern as floodwaters moved from north and central Texas toward the Gulf of Mexico.
A creek that empties into the Brazos River — which is expected to rise until this morning and crest at 15m — went up 1.2m between the time Ricky McCullough, 47, and a friend measured it on Friday night and Saturday morning. An alligator poked its snout above water as he talked, followed by a black water moccasin snake slithering along the muddied water.
“I’m concerned about it enough, but I’m a lot more concerned because we have a lot of older people living down here,” McCullough said.
He’s also worried about the forecast of heavy rains — about 2.5cm to 5cm projected for the greater Houston area, according to the US National Weather Service. However, lead forecaster Scott Overpeck in the Houston office said the storms are expected to be slow-moving, and if they stall out, portions of the area could receive between 10cm to 12.5cm in just a few hours.
Earlier in the week, the Colorado River in Wharton and the San Jacinto River near Houston were threatening homes, but the National Weather Service said both are expected to recede below flood stage by yesterday.
Wharton authorities said they were considering lifting a mandatory evacuation; residents from 30 homes were ordered to evacuate on Friday.
In Central Texas, about 2,000 volunteers and 100 members of an elite search and rescue team searched for a group of people whose vacation house was swept away in a massive flood on the Blanco River.
Among the missing was six-year-old William Charba, the son of Randy Charba, 42, and Michelle Charba, 43. Michelle’s body was found on Wednesday. Michelle’s mother, Sue Carey, 71, was still missing, but officials said late on Friday that they had identified the remains of her father, retired dentist Ralph Carey, 73.
Jonathan McComb, the lone survivor from the house, and his family had joined the Charbas and the Careys for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, all coming from Corpus Christi. McComb’s wife, Laura, 33, and four-year-old daughter, Leighton, are still unaccounted for. The body of their six-year-old son, Andrew, was found on Wednesday in the river.
This week’s record rainfall in Texas eased the state’s drought and swelled rivers and lakes to the point that they might not return to normal levels until next month.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
The tale of a middle-aged Chinese man, or “uncle,” who disguised himself as a woman to secretly film and share videos of his hookups with more than 1,000 men shook China’s social media, spurring fears for public health, privacy and marital fidelity. The hashtag “red uncle” was the top trending item on China’s popular microblog Sina Weibo yesterday, drawing at least 200 million views as users expressed incredulity and shock. The online posts told of how the man in the eastern city of Nanjing had lured 1,691 heterosexual men into sexual encounters at his home that he then recorded and distributed online. The
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
RSS