Storms Leave Houston-Area Streets Flooded

Thunderstorms rumbled through Texas today, flooding Houston streets with two to four inches of rain, clogging them with stalled cars and washing out one freeway underpass with six feet of water, forcing people who drove into it to swim out.

A flood emergency ended for a New Mexico Indian reservation.

Showers fell over Arkansas and Tennessee and rain mixed with snow fell from the Great Lakes and eastern Pennsylvania to New England. Dense morning fog was reported across southern Mississippi, southern Georgia and central Florida, but skies were mostly clear from the middle and upper Mississippi Valley to the West Coast.

Widespread Street Flooding

Street flooding was widespread in Pasadena, Tex., southeast of Houston, where 3.5 inches of rain fell in a matter of hours. Bayous were full and forecasters warned that more rain could send floodwaters streaming into houses.

“Getting around is one heck of a problem,” said Billie Fife, director of emergency preparedness. “We’re just encouraging everybody to stay off the streets as much as possible. There are a lot of stalled cars in the streets.”

Rainwater spouted out of sewer drains in Houston, where two inches of rain in an hour flooded streets and intersections and some underpasses.

“People drove into (the flooded freeway underpasses) and had to swim out,” fire Capt. Jim Hudgens said. “We’re talking about a couple of really low spots.”

Flash-Flood Warning

Two inches of rain fell at Victoria and three inches fell in some areas south of San Antonio. Four inches fell at Sugar Land. A flash-flood watch was posted for the upper Texas coast and the southeast section of the state.

In New Mexico, floodwaters receded, ending the threat of dam breaks on lakes between the Navajo community of Ramah and the Zuni Pueblo.

“Water in Ramah is down. Black Rock Lake Dam is down one inch,” a state police dispatcher in Gallup said. “As far as we are concerned right now, the emergency is over.”