Waterlogged Texas braces for more rain as flooding continues

HOUSTON -- Parts of Texas still recovering from heavy rainfall are carefully watching a new batch of storms that could dump up to 10 inches of rain through Saturday and worsen flooding caused by rivers and other waterways that already have risen to record levels.

A storm system that moved through the Houston-area Wednesday night and Thursday morning dumped nearly 8 inches of rain in some of the city's northern suburbs, causing flooding in some neighborhoods.

About half of Texas is under flood watches or warnings, including Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston, where about 1,400 homes have been affected by the Brazos River, swollen by heavy rainfall from last week.

The river reached 54.8 feet in Fort Bend County -- 4 feet higher than the record set in 1994 -- with water spilling into neighborhoods that hadn't previously flooded. Officials said levels in the Brazos have not dropped much and additional rainfall could make the flooding worse.

"With the rain that's predicted, that's not going to help things as that water has no place to go," said Lt. Lowell Neinast, with the police department in Richmond, where more than 700 people have been evacuated due to the Brazos River.

Depending on how much rain falls, the Brazos River could rise to up to 56 feet, said Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert.

Fort Bend County emergency management coordinator Jeff Braun said officials have worked to warn and prepare residents ahead of the additional rainfall.

Officials in Fort Bend were urging evacuated residents not to return home and noted authorities have conducted nearly 560 water rescues since Sunday. Braun said it could be at least a week before the flooding recedes and residents can go home. More than 50 people are staying at shelters in Fort Bend County.

Fort Bend is one of the 31 counties included in a disaster declaration by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. At least six people died in floods last week in central and southeast Texas.

Abbott planned to visit Hood County in north Texas on Thursday and the Fort Bend County area today.

This week's storms are the latest in a string of torrential rains since May 2015 that have put swaths of the state underwater. Some areas now overwhelmed by water had run dry two years ago due to drought conditions.

Other areas of Texas dealing with heavy rainfall include Bexar County, where San Antonio is located. Parts of that county got more than 4 inches of rain Wednesday and Thursday, causing more than 20 streets and roadways -- including parts of Interstate 35 -- in San Antonio temporarily to be shut down.

The rising Colorado River was expected to cause minor flooding in the coming days around Bastrop and La Grange, cities located southeast of Austin, according to the National Weather Service.