Massive Rains Force Rescues in Texas

Rains were heaviest in the Marble Falls area, about 40 miles northwest of Austin. Almost 18 inches fell on the town Wednesday. Whitman said 32 people had been rescued from floodwaters there.

Austin-area officials said there were reports of up to 20 rescues.Rains of over 18 inches in some parts of Texas have led to mass floods, people trapped in their cars, people trapped on rooftops, etc. Helicopter-borne rescuers have been forced to turn back due to stormy conditions, and the fate of at least three stranded people is unknown. More coming soon.Whitman Branch Creek in Marble Falls, typically 2-3 feet wide, expanded to at least 100 feet. Several nearby buildings were flooded and several vehicles were swept down the creek. The odor of gas and diesel fuel was heavy in the air.

Flooding washed out three bridges and tore off the back wall of the funeral home, Whitman said.

The mayor said it was unclear whether people managed to escape safely from the empty vehicles scattered around the town of about 7,200 residents.

GEORGETOWN, Texas - Torrential storms flooded parts of central Texas early Wednesday, stranding people on roofs and in vehicles, with wind-blown rain falling so hard that some rescue attempts had to be abandoned.

 

The worst flooding was in Williamson, Lampasas and Burnet counties in the Texas Hill Country northwest of Austin.

"We got hard facts of 18-plus inches of rain in a couple of those places since midnight," Austin-Travis County emergency medical services spokesman Warren Hassinger said just after 7 a.m.

His agency had at least 20 reports of people trapped atop vehicles, on roofs or clinging to trees surrounded by fast-moving water.

However, the weather was so stormy that helicopter crews had to abandon several flood rescue attempts, Hassinger said. He had no immediate information on the fate of those people who needed help.

One aborted rescue mission had attempted to get four people from the roof of a house in Granite Shoals, where water was about 4 feet from the top of the building. They had pulled a possible drowning victim from the water, Hassinger said.

One successful helicopter-assisted rescue plucked a Williamson County sheriff's deputy and another person from atop the lawman's car along the San Gabriel River near Georgetown, Hassinger said.

Texas and Oklahoma also were hit by heavy rain on Tuesday.

Residents of at least 50 homes had to be evacuated from a flooded subdivision near Lake Granbury, about 60 miles southwest of Dallas.

Rescuers used boats and jet skis to remove those residents late Tuesday as Robinson Creek rose out of its banks.

In Oklahoma, about 20 firefighters had to use a raft to rescue 16-year-old twin sisters from their car, stalled in rushing bumper-deep water.

The Oklahoma City area received about an inch of rain in 24 hours, bringing the city's annual total to 28.03 inches — about 10 inches above normal. Rain fell in Oklahoma City Wednesday for the 15th consecutive day, breaking a 70-year-old record.

A 13-year-old boy died in the Dallas suburb of Garland Tuesday night after being washed down a flooded creek, police spokesman Joe Harn said. The boy was swept away when firefighters using ropes tried to pull him ashore from a bridge pillar where he was stranded. He was found a mile downstream about two hours later, Harn said.

A number of flood warnings were posted throughout Texas. North Bosque River near Clifton was expected to crest at almost 29 feet early Wednesday, which is about 6 feet above normal and the highest since a crest of 28.9 feet in 1977.

Elsewhere, several Chicago streets and basements were flooded as parts of the city received 3 to 4 inches of rain in about 45 minutes, just before Tuesday's evening rush hour, according to the National Weather Service.

The water department received more than 700 reports of flooded basements, officials said.