Daniel Wolfram
The state of Texas is on high alert because of severe weather the rest of this week.
In Texas, state officials are preparing for severe weather throughout the entire week. On Monday, state officials issued warnings of heavy rain that will ultimately result in flash floods. The governor is urging residents to make the necessary preparations.
“We want to make sure that our fellow Texans know about the volume of rain that’s about to hit their region,” said Governor Greg Abbott, according to Fox 7. “Please take whatever action you can to prepare yourself, your family, your home for the heavy rain that may come.”
The heavy rain started Monday night in El Paso and will spread to Lubbock, Amarillo, and Midland by Tuesday before hitting the rest of the state on Wednesday.
Governor Abbott warned of severe impacts: “Flash floods should be anticipated. Rain of five to seven inches coming down. Wind. In those areas up to 60 miles per hour, including the potential for tropical tornadoes with wind up to 80 miles per hour.”
A stalling cold front
According to local meteorologists, there is a risk of up to 10 inches of rain Thursday in and around Dallas and San Antonio.
“There is a possibility that the front could stall. And if it stalls, it could result in an extraordinary amount of inches of rain falling in those regions that might be incalculable at this time,” said Governor Abbott.
The state is not taking any chances: The Emergency Operations Center is switching to around-the-clock staffing starting today at 7 am.
Massive rescue operation
Roughly 1,900 state responders, high-water rescue trucks and boats are ready to assist Texans in need of help if they get stuck in their cars during flooding.
“Just six inches of fast-moving water can cause drivers to lose control of their vehicles. We encourage you to turn around, don’t drown, and never drive around barricades, and use extreme caution on wet roadways,” said Brandye Hendrickson of the Texas Department of Transportation.
The military is also deploying helicopters. “These capabilities can do, as I’ve said, aerial search and rescue, evacuations on the ground and air across inundated areas, and also critical supply delivery to include food, water, and medicine,” said Major General Thomas Suelzer with the Texas Military Department.
Triple flood threat
According to AccuWeather, the weather is spurred on by two hurricanes that formed in the Pacific Ocean.
The weather service calls it a “triple flood threat,” because the hurricanes clashed with another storm coming in from the West Coast, creating a three-step event that can prove fatal for people in the area.
“This rainfall event will essentially consist of a triple threat combination: moisture leftover from Odalys, moisture transported from Polo and the incoming trough shifting across the West. All pieces will work together to create a life-threatening rainfall event for some locations,” says AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Duffus.
Those locations mentioned are not just confined to the state of Texas. There are also flood and storm warnings out for Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Colorado.
