HOUSTON, April 20 (UPI) — Another round of thunderstorms marched into Houston, prompting fears of more flooding in areas already underwater as the death toll from storms in the metropolitan area this week climbs to eight.
The slow-moving storms likely will linger in the area throughout the day, according to the National Weather Service. Wednesday’s storms, forecasters said, will likely drop about 1 to 3 inches of rain in most spots.
Northwest Harris County has been hit the hardest, causing Cypress Creek to spill over its banks onto roads, flooding apartment complexes and houses. Hundreds of people were evacuated Tuesday.
Many roads in an around Houston were still closed, but schools are open after being closed for two days.
A research scientist estimates almost 9 trillion gallons of rain fell on the state over three days. The Houston-area community of Hockley got pummeled with 17 inches of rain in less than 24 hours.
Seven of the eight people found dead in the earlier flooding have been identified.They included a well-respected electrical engineer on her way to work, a popular junior high school social studies teacher, killed trying to help his parents, and a community college student who accidentally drove into 30 feet of floodwater as a toll road worker tried to chase her vehicle to get her to stop.
Four people died in Houston and two others in Harris County, one in Waller County and another in Austin County, according to Michael Walter, a spokesman with Houston’s Office of Emergency Management.
Military-type vehicles and boats were used to rescue more than 50 senior citizens from two assisted-living facilities in Houston.
The rain flooded more than 1,000 homes and caused more than $5 billion in damage, according to the Harris County Flood Control District.
