Heavy Rains Drench Texas; Midwest Cold

Heavy rains continued to drench South Texas on Sunday, flooding streets and lowlands, while temperatures plunged to record-breaking lows in 17 cities in the Midwest.

The Texas rains, which began Friday, caused floods in five southern counties Sunday, and more heavy downpours were expected. Flash-flood watches remained in effect for southwest and south-central Texas.

Thunderstorms brought more than an inch of rain in an hour to southeast Houston and 1 inches to Victoria.

Nearly Seven Inches Fell

Between midnight and 8 a.m., nearly seven inches of rain inundated Hindes, and four to five inches drenched Charlotte and Pearsall.

At least 50 Travis County residents south of Austin were still homeless Sunday after waist-deep floodwaters routed them Saturday. They were put up in a Red Cross shelter at a junior high school, Red Cross spokesman Floyd Clark said.

“Twenty-one homes are uninhabitable. People can no longer live there because of high water and the tremendous water damage,” Clark said. “Folks are mainly in the lower-income brackets. The damage to them financially has been devastating.”

Heavy rains Saturday pushed the Blanco River over its banks, burying low-water crossings in as much as 20 feet of water near Wimberly, Hays County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Squires said.

“It’s starting to subside in Wimberly, and it’s starting down to the San Marcos (River),” Squires said. “Most of the low-water crossings here in San Marcos are under six to seven feet of water.”

Record Low Temperatures

In the Midwest, a strong high-pressure system produced record lows for the date in Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio.

In Duluth, Minn., the temperature dropped to 30 degrees, three degrees below the 1956 mark. In Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., the reading of 35 degrees broke a record set in 1917 by one degree.