HOUSTON – Officials are closely monitoring the levels of rivers in Texas engorged by the deluge of last weekend.
The Colorado River in Wharton and the Brazos and San Jacinto Rivers near Houston are the focus of attention for officials as floodwaters from North and Central Texas move downstream toward the Gulf of Mexico.
The death toll continued to rise as search teams dig through debris piles along rivers that raged through Central Texas and the Houston area. The confirmed death toll Friday was at least 24, with 20 in Texas alone, and at least 14 others missing.
This week’s record rainfall in Texas eased the state’s drought and swelled rivers and lakes to the point that they may not return to normal levels until July, scientists said Thursday.
“There’s so much water in Texas and Oklahoma that it’s going to take quite a while for those rivers to recede,” said Mark Wiley, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fort Worth, Texas.
If normal amounts of precipitation return, rivers will probably drop to average levels by the Fourth of July, he said.
“Six months ago, we were dying for this stuff,” Wiley said. “And now we’re saying, ‘Please, please stop.”‘
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Lozano reported from Houston and Robbins from Wimberley.
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