Flooding that left at least seven people dead in Texas over the weekend continued on Tuesday, with one river forecast to crest at an all-time record high level.
In Travis County, the search continues for at least one more flood victim.
KVUE-TV in Austin warns that several more inches of rain are expected this week with severe flooding possible in Central Texas. The flood risk extends to Houston as well, especially Thursday into Friday.
The Brazos River, which runs from New Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico, should crest at 53.5 feet on Tuesday in Richmond, Texas, the National Weather Service said.
That's three feet higher than the previous record set during flooding in 1994.
Richmond is in Fort Bend County, which is southwest of Houston. Authorities said Monday they rescued at least 40 people over the weekend from floodwaters in that county alone.
In Rosenberg, Texas, floodwaters full of water moccasins, ants and debris surrounded Javier Antunez's home, his sheep and his dog Monday evening.
After two days of hoping the water would recede, Antunez could not wait any longer. “What can I do,” he asked. “It’s my house, but I can’t live in here (right now).”
Most of the deaths took place in rural Washington County, Texas, between Austin and Houston, where more than 16.5 inches of rain fell in some places late last week, the Associated Press reported.
Dozens of rivers were in flood stage across the central and southern Plains as of Tuesday, the weather service said.
Rounds of heavy thunderstorms will raise the risk of flooding across the south-central U.S. into Friday, AccuWeather said.
The heaviest storms are expected to impact Oklahoma and central and western Texas through Wednesday night, before shifting into eastern Texas, including Houston, by Thursday.
