At least four people were killed in San Antonio as heavy rain lashed Eastern Texas and sent flash floods sweeping through the city overnight, officials said on Thursday.
A slow-moving thunderstorm began dumping rain on the area on Wednesday evening. By daybreak on Thursday, emergency workers had responded to dozens of calls as floodwaters overwhelmed low-lying roads and swept away several vehicles, according to a spokesman for the San Antonio Fire Department.
Four bodies were recovered from floodwaters, the spokesman said, and officials were still investigating the deaths. Ten people had been rescued from floodwaters, four of whom were taken to hospitals with injuries, and two more people were missing, he said.
According to radar-estimated amounts, about seven inches of rain had fallen before sunrise in some parts of the region. San Antonio usual sees less than six inches of rainfall in both June and July combined.
It was still raining in San Antonio as of about 10 a.m. on Thursday. Eric Platt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, warned that the flooding threat remained. A flash flood warning was in effect for the city until early afternoon.
“It’s not as intense as what we saw earlier,” he said of Thursday morning’s precipitation. “But with saturated ground in the area, we’ve still got to watch out for some more flooding.”
More than 40 low water crossings were closed in several counties, and water surged up to four feet in some areas. Leon Creek, which snakes through western San Antonio, rose 13 feet, the Weather Service said on social media. By 8 a.m. on Thursday, the fire department had reported more than 65 high-water rescue calls.
Other parts of Eastern Texas were also under flash flood warnings until the afternoon, and flood warnings were issued for rivers in the region. A larger portion of Southeast Texas was under a flash flood watch through the evening.
Forecasters expected the flood threat for Eastern Texas to gradually diminish throughout Thursday. The storm system is expected to move southeast toward the Louisiana border, with the storms weakening by midday Thursday.
Farther north, however, flash flood-producing storms were possible later on Thursday, particularly across the central and southwestern parts of Arkansas. The Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center issued a level 2 out of 4 risk for flash flooding in parts of Arkansas, northwest Mississippi, western Louisiana, eastern Texas and eastern Oklahoma for Thursday.
“I’ve got about a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the forecast,” Mr. Platt said. “It looks like the flood threat will be on the decrease.”
Nazaneen Ghaffar is a Times reporter on the Weather team.
Talya Minsberg is a Times reporter covering breaking and developing news.
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