Search for Texas Flood Victims Suspended Amid Heavy Rains
The Kerr County Sheriff's Office ordered volunteers, equipment and vehicles to vacate the area around Guadalupe River as water is expected to rise, it said on its Facebook page. Highway 39 in the area has been closed to all vehicles except residents and emergency personnel.
'This is a dangerous and life-threatening situation,' the sheriff's office said in a post. 'Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.'
The latest round of storms comes just over a week after the area was devastated by a July 4 deluge that killed at least 120 people and left many more missing.
A wide swath of the region got between 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10cm) of rain overnight, with some spots getting more than 8 inches as thunderstorms continue to pound the area, said Scott Kleebauer, a forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center. More storms are forecast later in the day.
'It is one of those set ups; there will definitely be heavy rainfall again tonight,' said Kleebauer. 'Those areas down there are so sensitive, so that any type of heavy rainfall could cause a problem.'
Governor Greg Abbott said in a social media post that Texas was conducting rescues in three counties in the central part of the state while evacuations continued in others.
'We are expanding operations in all affected counties — all while monitoring the rising waters in Kerrville,' Abbott said.
The area north and west of Austin, the state capital, was hit by devastating floods on July 4, when heavy downpours caused river levels to rise with startling speed.
Kerrville, a small town about 55 miles (85 km) northwest of San Antonio and the seat of Kerr County, was particularly hard hit. Among other things, the swollen Guadalupe River struck a girls' summer camp, killing at least 27 children and counselors.
Local, state and federal officials have been under scrutiny since the event over their initial response, particularly how a county prone to floods lacked warning sirens when forecasts warned of the danger of flash floods. President Donald Trump visited Kerrville on Friday.
The Guadalupe River in Kerrville is forecast to rise by nearly 6.8 feet by Sunday afternoon, the National Weather Service said. Meanwhile, the San Saba River in the city of the same name, northwest of Austin, has already risen more than 2 feet and is forecast to rise another 20 feet by Tuesday.
Flood watches extend from southern Texas on the Mexican border to eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas. The area northwest of Austin is covered by flash flood warnings through Sunday morning as radar picked up thunderstorms drifting through the area dropping rain at rates of 2 to 4 inches on top of what was received overnight.
(Updates with Abbott post in seventh paragraph.)
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