[Editor’s Note: This story will be updated].
12:03 p.m. (CDT)
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for portions of Central and South Texas, which could see as much as five inches of rain Saturday if a storm system stalls over the area.
Lead Forecaster Scott Overpeck in Houston says between 1 and 2 inches of rain is projected in the greater Houston area Saturday afternoon and evening. He says the storms will likely be slow-moving. If it stalls out, some parts of the already-waterlogged area could receive between 4 and 5 inches in a few hours.
Additional rainfall could cause more flooding along the Brazos River and the city’s bayous. May storms have already resulted in at least 29 deaths, with 25 of those in Texas. At least 11 people are still missing in Texas, as of Saturday.
10:45 a.m. (CDT)
Dallas police say a man’s body was recovered from standing water after storms flooded parts of the metro. That brings the death toll to 25, people who’ve been killed in Texas storms since Memorial Day. Dallas police spokesman Juan Fernandez said Saturday that officers found a man, who hasn’t been identified, floating in the water Friday.
Fernandez said the body has been sent to the county medical examiner’s office to determine the official cause of death. Storms dumped as much as 7 inches across the area Thursday night. The other Dallas-area death discovered Friday was a man who drowned in his truck after it was swept into a culvert in the suburb of Mesquite.
9 a.m. (CDT)
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is seeing another round of heavy rain. The National Weather Service extended a flash flood warning from 8:45 a.m. Saturday to 11:45 a.m. for Dallas, Johnson and Tarrant counties. There were no immediate reports of rescues Saturday morning. Rivers around the Dallas area have all swelled in the last week. Before Saturday's rain, the National Weather Service said 16.07 inches of rain fell across the Dallas area in May, easily eclipsing a 1982 record of 13.66.
1 a.m. (CDT)
Flood concerns are lingering in Texas, with more storms in the forecast. At least 28 people have been killed in storms that began pummeling Texas and Oklahoma over Memorial Day weekend. Twenty-four of the deaths have been in Texas alone.
Rivers and lakes around Houston, San Antonio and Dallas have all swelled. And forecasters are predicting more rain this weekend. The Colorado River in Wharton and the Brazos and San Jacinto rivers near Houston are the main areas of concern as floodwaters move from North and Central Texas downstream toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Forecasters said the Colorado River at Wharton could crest on Saturday, causing major flooding in the community 60 miles southwest of Houston.
11:30 p.m. (CDT) Friday
President Barack Obama has signed a disaster declaration for Texas after severe flooding this week. The White House said Obama declared that he ordered federal aid to supplement other recovery efforts in the area affected by severe weather since May 4.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had earlier requested a presidential disaster declaration to get federal help for the counties affected. Obama’s action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Harris, Hays, and Van Zandt counties.
Funding also is available to governments and some nonprofits on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and repairs in Cooke, Gaines, Grimes, Harris, Hays, Navarro, and Van Zandt counties.
