Houston rains and high winds cause chaos
The Houston rains and high winds have left some four people dead, in the middle of a week of bad weather affecting this area of the state of Texas.
At least four people have died in Houston as hurricane-force winds and torrential rains lashed the city Thursday, May 16.
The rains and strong winds in Houston are part of a storm system that is causing potentially deadly flooding and power outages in some southern areas.
Among those killed by the rains and high winds in Houston, one person died when a crane was toppled by blizzards and two other deaths were caused by downed trees, according to Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena.
Parts of Texas and western Louisiana are under a rare Level 4 of 4 high risk of excessive rain Thursday, the Weather Prediction Center said.
In Houston, about 600,000 people live in the high-risk zone.
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Violent conditions from rain and strong winds in Houston have blown out windows of skyscrapers, partially collapsed a nightclub and ripped off a swath of roofing at the downtown Hyatt Regency, showering the hotel lobby with rain and debris.
Houston rains and high winds cause chaos
Rains and strong winds in Houston have generated flooding that has led to water rescues in at least one city.
Up to 20 drivers had to be helped out of rising water in Bryan, about 100 miles northwest of Houston, police said.
Power outages left more than a million homes and businesses across the state in the dark Thursday, with torrential storms lashing an already waterlogged South.
High-risk days like this one occur only 4% of days per year, but account for more than 80% of all flood damage and more than one-third of all flood deaths in the United States, according to the WPC.
Only three other days have reached this troubling figure this year, including the most recent, nearly three weeks ago.
It’s a sign that the atmosphere is primed to dump extreme amounts of rain, an increasingly frequent phenomenon in a warming world due to man-made climate change.
Amid the rain and strong winds in Houston, rainfall amounts of 50 to 100 millimeters are expected from Texas to Georgia through Saturday morning.
Some spots caught under multiple torrential storms may pick up 200 mm or more of rain. It is not ruled out that one or two spots will record close to 300 mm of rainfall in about 48 hours.
Since early April, Texas and Louisiana have been in the bull’s-eye of torrential rains and flooding.
According to the WPC, rainfall over the past two weeks in the flooded area has exceeded 600% of normal.
Triple-digit rainfall totals, between 500 and 760 mm, fallen over the region in recent weeks have soaked the ground and left rivers swollen, raising the threat of flooding to extreme levels.
Soggy soils are not expected to absorb any of Thursday’s rain, the WPC warned Thursday morning. Widespread flash flooding could begin minutes after heavy rain begins.
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Due to rain and strong winds in Houston more than 1 million customers across Texas were without power as of Thursday night, including more than 800,000 outages recorded in Harris County, where Houston is located, according to PowerOutage.US.
Harris County is the third most populous county in the United States.
The excess rainfall has largely eliminated dryness and drought conditions along the Gulf Coast, but it has not been without a cost.
