Texas Flooding Kills 2, Leaves 3 Missing; Evacuations Underway

Ada Carr
Published: May 28,2016
Two people have died and three are missing in Texas after a storm system fired up once again in the Plains, bringing heavy rain and severe flooding to parts of the region. Numerous rivers in the state are heading toward historic crests, and officials are asking for madatory and voluntary evacuations of homes.
The Brenham Fire Department told KHOU 11 News one person died in a trailer home in Chappell Hill, Texas. The home was flooded as storms stalled over the Brenham area Thursday night. A second person apparently had a heart attack after driving into high water.
KHOU also reported a young man missing from his flooded vehicle in the same area. Two others are missing in the Austin area.
High waters covered roadways and prompted evacuations across the region Thursday and into Friday. Tornadoes that caused damage were also reported in the Lone Star State and Kansas, where twisters have been spotted for a third consecutive day.
(FORECAST: Severe Weather Outbreak Possible, Including Tornadoes, Thursday in the Plains States)
Friday Bastrop County, Texas, issued a disaster declaration after about 100 homes were damaged by flooding. This is the fifth disaster declaration issued by Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape since Memorial Day weekend of last year.
Here are the latest impacts from these storms.

Texas

Emergency officials are still searching for 21-year-old Darren Mitchell, family members tell KHOU 11. He called his mom to say he was trapped in high water Thursday evening. He also posted to Facebook when his car was in flood water, "And all I wanted to do was go home." Friday morning, officials found his truck overturned in water near Highway 105.
Fire crews are searching for two people that were swept away by floodwaters early Friday morning in southeast Travis County, KVUE reported. ESD 11 Chief Ken Bailey confirms to the station the two were swept away around 1:15 a.m. Friday.
The exact details of the incident are still unclear, but reports to police said the two individuals' car had been swept off the road and the two people inside got stuck in a tree around 2:30 a.m, KXAN reported.
Travis County Fire Rescue spokesperson Ken Bailey told KEYE that the people were on top of the car and rescue crews were preparing to go to them when water swept them away.
Swollen rivers and creeks throughout the state have prompted officials to ask for mandatory and voluntary evacuations of homes. Most of the 800 residents of Simonton were ordered to evacuate Saturday due to the rising levels of the Brazos River, the Associated Press reports. In the Houston-area Northwood Pines subdivision, families were asked to voluntarily evacuate their homes and apartments Saturday due to rising levels of a nearby creek.
High water was already responsible for numerous high water rescues by Friday afternoon. Four adults and one child were rescued from the roof of a home by helicopter near Austin. Several Austin neighborhoods were evacuated early Friday morning, KXAN reports, and drivers are being asked to stay off roads in Bastrop County due to the dangerous situation unfolding as waters continue to rise along the Colorado River and cover roadways.
Flooding in Bastrop damaged about 100 homes, prompting Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape to issue a disaster declaration, according to AP. He says more than 100 county roads have been barricaded and some roads had washed out. About 50 homes were evacuated overnight.
This is the fifth disaster declaration Pape has issued since the Memorial Day weekend of 2015. Four were due to widespread flooding and one was for fire damage.
"I've lived here 33 years and that's the most disaster declarations we've ever had in a 12 month period," said Pape.

Heavy rains in Brenham, Texas, washed out a road and overturned a vehicle.
(Anoushah Rasta/KPRC)

Mobile homes were washed away by flooding in Washington County and multiple houses had water inside of them, Washington County Judge John Brieden told AP. He added that there have been more than 50 water rescues from houses and flooded vehicles since Thursday morning and that at one point officials had nine boat teams out conducting rescues.
Along Highway 290, there were several accidents from the storm. A semi-truck rolled over and in a separate accident a car hydroplaned and also rolled several times. No one was seriously injured.
In Brenham high water washed parts of at least one road, leaving huge gaps in some spots and tearing up the pavement in others, KPRC reports. The city saw 16.62 inches of rain on Thursday, shattering the old one-day record by 6.24 inches.
About 40 children spent the night at a Brenham elementary school after buses were unable to transport them home, according to Brieden. They were unable to make it down flooded roads in some areas. A few buses had to be rescued; one broke down and another was trapped when nearby waters rose.

In Waller County, ranchers battled to save a herd of cattle near Chappell Hill after the animals were caught in a flooded pasture. Photos tweeted by KHOU show ranchers in boats attempting to drive the animals toward higher ground.

The National Weather Service an EF1 tornado touched down near Wixon Valley and was moving northeast Thursday afternoon.
KAGS News tweeted several photos of apparent tornado damage to homes in Bryan but said there were no injuries reported as of early Thursday afternoon. According to KTBC reporter Chris Walker, Brazos County officials reported tornado damage in the Wheeler Ridge subdivision of College Station.

"When I turned the corner and saw the tornado, all I could see was just debris and trees flying. It was just a war zone," resident Don Maxwell told the Houston Chronicle.
Bryan residents told Fox 7 that after the storm passed, traffic lights were out, roads were blocked, many people couldn't get home and everything seemed very chaotic.
“I have never seen anything like this. Of my two years staying here, this has easily been one of the craziest days I have ever seen,” Kevin Ford, who lives in Bryan, told the station.
The Wallace Pack Unit prison in Navasota sustained damage to a pair of watchtowers and an outbuilding, the Associated Press reports. No one was injured and all staff members and 1,200 inmates were accounted for.
The continued rain is pushing numerous rivers and creeks in the area toward historic crests. In particular, the Colorado River is expected to near its crest from last May and November near Smithville, says weather.com meteorologists, inundating some area homes. Downstream, homes are likely to flood in La Grange and Columbus, and a Monday crest in Wharton may flood homes in the city's west side. The Brazos River is forecast to crest at 50.3' at Richmond over the Memorial Day Weekend, which would tie the all-time record from Oct. 1994.
To the east, Davidson Creek near Lyons (southwest of College Station) topped its previous record level from October 1994. The Brazos River near Hempstead reached its second highest level, topped only by a crest in December 1913. Flooding of homes is expected near Peach Creek and the West Fork of the San Jacinto River northeast of downtown Houston, as well.

Kansas

Emergency management officials in Franklin County reported a water rescue at a home near Ottawa on Friday, the NWS said. The report went on to say that numerous roads west of Ottawa were impassable due to high water.
On Thursday, an EF1 tornado was reported in Wamego and photos and videos of damage surfaced online. Trees were uprooted and cars were destroyed by the downed timbers, reports KSNT News. A tree also collapsed on top of a home.

Falling hail about 2.75 inches in diameter broke the windows of vehicles and homes in Meriden Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Power lines and several tree branches were also downed.
This is a developing story; please check back for frequent updates.