Flash flooding intensified across southern Texas on Thursday, after pounding rain caused rivers to surge and forced a scramble of evacuations and more water rescues. More than a foot of rain had fallen across parts of Hill Country west of San Antonio, and forecasters said on Wednesday afternoon that it would take very little additional rain to exacerbate flash flooding.
Significant or even catastrophic flash flooding remained likely in the hardest-hit areas through early Thursday, they said.
The rain further intensified into Thursday: As much as eight inches fell around the city of Uvalde from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m., the National Weather Service said. And rising waters at the Guadalupe River prompted forecasters to predict crests similar to those in last year’s catastrophic floods. At 5:30 a.m. local time on Thursday, forecasters said that a “large and deadly flood wave” was moving down the river.
At Center Point, a community in Kerr County, the river had risen 32 feet in four hours. Near the community of Comfort, the river surged 16 feet in half an hour, with videos circulated by local news media on Thursday showing river levels closing in on bridges. Officials in Kerr County closed roads and urged residents to seek higher ground. A spokeswoman for the county said there had been rescues and damage to structures but did not give details.
The flood warnings had the rare designation of “particularly dangerous situation.”
“We are dealing with and responding to a flood that is likely going to break records,” Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said in a news conference in Austin on Wednesday, after issuing a disaster declaration for 59 counties.
The rainfall during this storm could reach more than 30 inches — higher than the totals during the deadly floods in the area last summer, Governor Abbott warned.
More than 75 people had been rescued by the authorities, he said, and state agencies had deployed about 1,300 personnel to respond to the flooding.
In Kerr County, the authorities closed roads and warned residents late Wednesday that all travel was dangerous. As the flash-flooding warning arrived in the early hours, officials urged residents to seek higher ground immediately. “This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation,” they wrote on social media.
In Uvalde, videos circulated by emergency authorities showed water rushing past downed trees and a submerged truck on a highway. The authorities closed major highways and many city streets because of flooding and ordered residents to shelter in place unless they were in immediate danger.
A dam in the northern part of the county was intact, the police said earlier, but added that the gauge upstream of the Leona River was registering a 20-foot wall of water.
An evacuation order was in effect for part of the city near the river.
Though rain was forecast to continue across a wide area, forecasters have been most concerned about flash-flood threats along the populated areas between San Antonio and Waco. Power outages affected about 13,000 customers in several Texas counties, according to one tracker. The National Weather Service also issued tornado warnings in some counties.
In parts of Medina County, flash flood warnings were in place on Thursday, and forecasters said three to 15 inches of rain had fallen over the past two days. Significant flooding had affected the area, they said, with up to four more inches of rain possible.
In Boerne, north of San Antonio, the National Weather Service declared a flood emergency on Wednesday. Nearly two inches of the 12 the city has recorded fell in only one hour — with nearly half an inch occurring in just five minutes. That was an extremely rare rain total in a short period, forecasters said.
Chris Shadrock, the communications director for Boerne, said water had enveloped Main Street. High-water rescues were taking place in the city.
“This is a life-threatening weather event,” he said on the city’s social media page. “We are seeing flood conditions that we have not seen since 2015.”
Mr. Shadrock said residents needed to be prepared to evacuate if they lived along creeks and streams, including in the communities of Evergreen and other areas west of San Antonio, or be prepared to shelter in place. “If you are safe, please stay there,” he said.
In Bandera County on Wednesday, Judge Richard A. Evans signed an order for the R.V. parks along the Medina River to evacuate immediately.
“We have several low-water crossings and roads that are now closed,” Laurie Blanchard, a county spokeswoman, said in an email on Wednesday. “We expect the river to rise.” Preparations have been made to give residents shelter at the Silver Sage, a senior center.
Heavy rain and flash flooding are not uncommon in Texas in mid-July. Just over a year ago, a weekend of devastating flooding killed more than 130 people in Central Texas, including 25 young campers along the Guadalupe River in Hill Country.
The flooding in the early morning of July 4, 2025, that inundated the Guadalupe River was caused by 6.5 inches of rain that fell in just three hours, with little rain preceding it. On Wednesday, rain was falling at similar rates, but with rivers already swollen with days of flooding rains.
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