Water continues to rise
between the levees of the flooded Trinity River in Dallas as more rain
continues to drench the area on Thursday, June 2, 2016. (David Woo/The
Dallas Morning News via AP)
ATLANTA—From tropical rains to tornadoes, about half of
the U.S. expected to see wet and at times severe weather this weekend,
capping a week of scorching temperatures out West and flooding that
killed nine soldiers when their military vehicle got caught in the
rushing waters of a rain-swollen creek at Fort Hood, Texas.
People along the Gulf Coast kept a watchful eye on a system over the
Caribbean Sea that was forecast to bring 5 to 10 inches of rain to parts
of Florida. The storm is likely to develop into a tropical cyclone.
In the Mid-Atlantic region, the nation’s capital and more than 17
million people braced for the possibility of severe thunderstorms,
damaging winds and tornadoes Sunday.
Here’s a look at what people are doing to prepare and recover from the various types of weather:
Tropical Rains
The hurricane season is just a few days old, and its third named
storm may be developing near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The U.S.
National Hurricane Center in Miami says the system has a good chance of
forming into a tropical cyclone, and even if it doesn’t, it will still
bring heavy rains along the Gulf Coast.
Police in St. Petersburg distributed sandbags to residents Saturday
in anticipation of the drenching beginning Sunday night. Gov. Rick Scott
was closely monitoring the weather and warned residents, tourists and
businesses to be prepared.
Florida’s emergency management director Bryan Koon said they expected
a fast-moving storm, which means it could mature rapidly. The severe
weather could last through Tuesday.
“Even if this system does not develop into a named storm, it still
poses significant risks from flooding, damaging winds and tornadoes, and
rip currents,” he said.
If the storm does develop, it would be named Colin.
Last weekend, Bonnie formed off the South Carolina coast, inundating
parts of the East Coast. On Saturday, Bonnie was weakening far offshore
and posed no threat to land.
Taking Aim at the Nation’s Capital
More than 17 million people in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Virginia
Beach, Virginia, and Raleigh, North Carolina, are looking at an
“enhanced” risk of severe thunderstorms Sunday, according to the
National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center.
Damaging winds, a tornado or two and marginally severe hail are expected from the Southeast to as far north as New York.
Unyielding Texas Flooding
It’s been several days since deadly flooding began in parts of
southeast and central Texas, and the rain just started to let up
Saturday.
In its wake, Army officials investigated a training exercise that
went horribly wrong at Fort Hood, leading to the deaths of nine soldiers
whose vehicle was swept into rushing waters of a rain-swollen creek.
Three soldiers were pulled from the water and survived.
Rafters
negotiate the rain swollen Guadalupe River near New Braunfels, Texas,
Thursday, June 2, 2016. About half of Texas is under flood watches or
warnings, including Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston, where about
1,400 homes have been affected by the swollen Brazos River. (AP
Photo/Eric Gay)
Coryell County emergency medical services chief Jeff Mincy told the
Killeen Daily Herald that only the wheels of an Army troop-transport
truck were visible after swift flood waters washed the 2½-ton vehicle
from a low-water crossing on the installation. He surmised the waters
were about 8 feet deep.
Meanwhile, several counties in and around Houston were under a flash
flood watch or flood warning Saturday due to days of rain that had
creeks and rivers flowing out of their banks.
The Brazos River is causing trouble for communities in Fort Bend
County, especially near where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
County Judge Robert Hebert said floodwaters are receding but warned
some neighborhoods are still cut off and many local streets are
impassable.
“As water levels recede we will be able to get into these inundated areas and assess the damage,” he said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment