Texas authorities issued warnings in the state on Tuesday as Tropical Storm Harold was downgraded to a tropical depression. It made landfall, brought heavy rainfall, and caused power outages and flash floods.
Officials from the National Weather Service (NWS) predicted that there would be roughly one to three inches of rainfall in under an hour in some areas of the state. The situation comes a day after historic levels of rain flooded parts of the United States southwest.
Tropical Storm Harold
On Tuesday, California and Nevada were cleaning up after several parts of the states experienced historic amounts of rain from Storm Hilary. The latter resulted in widespread flooding, mudflows, downed power lines, and trapped cars.
The NWS monitored and tracked two other tropical storms moving west toward the US. Around 10:00 a.m. local time, Harold made landfall on Texas' Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico, as BBC.
Authorities issued tropical storm warnings and affected areas from the Rio Grande River, located along the state's southern boundary, to roughly 250 miles north, to the community of Port O'Connor.
More than a million people were expected to be placed under tropical storm warnings in the state. The NWS also warned that scattered instances of flash flooding were entirely possible.
The weather agency was forced to issue a tornado warning for counties in south-central Texas due to wind speeds reaching up to 50 miles per hour. Officials warned residents in the areas not to go outside because of "flying debris" that could be dangerous.
After making landfall in Texas, the tropical storm started to get weaker, and at around 5:00 p.m. local time, its wind speeds were down to roughly 30 miles per hour. Furthermore, according to CNN, all tropical storm warnings along the Texas coast were discontinued at the time.
Heavy Rainfall in Texas
Officials said that the center of the tropical depression was located about 15 miles east of Laredo, Texas, and noted that it would continue moving into northern Mexico in the next few hours. As of Tuesday evening, power was knocked out for nearly 20,000 people in the state.
The storm has brought more rain to Corpus Christi, Texas, in just a few hours than the area has experienced for the entire summer. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also ordered the deployment of the Texas National Guard, swift water rescue boat squads, and other emergency resources.
Additionally, Naval Air Station Kingsville issued orders to those in the RV Park on the installation to evacuate, as voluntary evacuations were called in Riviera, Baffin Bay, and Loyola Beach. In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, United States President Joe Biden confirmed that he had released a new directive.
This was to have the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) pre-deploy personnel to the rain-stricken state to assist state and local officials. CBS News said they were also going to be responsible for coordinating any requests for resources if federal assistance becomes needed.
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