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Texas Flooding Makes ‘Big Mess’

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From Associated Press

Heavy rain Monday in the San Antonio and Austin areas flooded streets, stranded cars and closed roads. Rising creeks and streams also threatened some homes, forcing residents to move to higher ground, authorities said.

San Antonio police reported one death, after a vehicle was swept from a roadway.

In New Braunfels, rescue crews evacuated 24 children from a day-care center. Flooding also shut down a large section of the city’s downtown.

Gov. Rick Perry authorized the use of three Texas National Guard helicopters for search-and-rescue operations.

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“We hope Texans will take all possible precautions during severe weather,” Perry said.

Tornado warnings were posted in the Houston area as a string of thunderstorms dumped as much as 4 inches of rain per hour. The Colorado River, which flows through Austin and into southeast Texas, swelled out of its banks in several spots.

The Lower Colorado River Authority temporarily closed three of the four open floodgates at Mansfield Dam at Lake Travis after overnight rain. The move was aimed at slowing the rush of water downstream.

The town of El Campo about 70 miles south of Houston, still reeling from weekend flooding that forced 250 people to evacuate, was spared rain Monday.

“The creeks are still up and the town is trying to drain as much as possible,” Mayor Randy Collins said. “To my knowledge, the rescue efforts have come to a close and now it’s just a big cleanup of a big mess.”

Wharton County had received about 11 inches of rain since Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Sections of U.S. 59 were closed after up to 15 inches of rain fell across parts of that county and Jackson County in southeast Texas. The road reopened Monday afternoon.

More rain was possible through tonight.

“The biggest majority of what’s going to fall is going to run off,” said Mike Rehbein, a weather service meteorologist. “There’s been no sunshine to dry things out.”

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