Storms ease in Texas, but runoff could mean more flooding

HOUSTON -- Although the deadly thunderstorms that lashed much of Texas have tapered off, many cities still were in danger of flooding Thursday as heavy rain from earlier in the week poured downstream, swelling rivers.

The Houston area got a respite from the rain a day earlier, but runoff from earlier in the week lifted the San Jacinto River above flood stage, and it kept climbing. Nearby residents watched the high water with alarm.

"We came back out here today to get a few of our things that we had parked by the road," said Brian Harmon, who lives in suburban Kingwood, Texas. "The water keeps rising and rising. We didn't want to lose anything else."

Harmon's home had up to 2 feet of water. Nearby streets had water rushing over them.

"It's very stressful," he said. "I'm very tired of it."

About 60 miles southwest of Houston, the mayor of Wharton, Texas, asked residents to evacuate about 300 homes because of the predicted rise of the Colorado River.

And in the rural Parker County community of Horseshoe Bend, Texas, about 40 miles southwest of Fort Worth, officials asked people in 250 homes to flee from the Brazos River.

By early Thursday, Parker County Emergency Management spokesman Joel Kertok said the Brazos had almost crested, but officials had no immediate reports of flooded homes and were monitoring the situation.

He said the river, which has a flood level of 21 feet, was at nearly 24 feet.

This week's storms and floods in Texas and Oklahoma have left at least 21 people dead and at least 10 others missing.

In Miami, President Barack Obama said the flooding should serve as a reminder of the need to make the nation more resilient against natural disasters. He said climate change is affecting both the pace and intensity of storms.