FIRE-EARTH Alert: JQTG

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FIRE-EARTH Alert: JQTG

• Details of the JQTG Alert are available from BEACONS.

Extreme Rain, Flooding Devastate Texas

“Potential 100-year flood” could inundate hundreds of homes Tuesday

Severe flooding, triggered by extreme rain events, has killed at least six people and left four others were missing in Texas and Kansas.

Most of the deaths occurred in Washington County (Texas), between Austin and Houston, where 420mm of rain fell in some places since late Friday, said local reports.

Harris County officials warned residents to areas flooded by the Spring Creek and the San Jacinto River, and “asked about 750 families in the Northwood Pines Subdivision and the Park at Northgate Apartments to voluntarily evacuate their homes and to stay out until the flooding threat had subsided,” said a report.

Some 800 other families were ordered to evacuate from the city of Simonton in Fort Bend County, where the rising Brazos River is expected to cause flooding in the next few days.

The city of Rosenberg  issued a mandatory evacuation at about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Mayor Cynthia McConathy also signed orders declaring a state of disaster for the city. The evacuations were in effect until 2 p.m. Sunday.

The Brazos River in nearby Richmond is predicted to hit major flood stage Sunday afternoon and crest at 53.5 feet Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Officials at two prisons near Houston were moving about 2,600 inmates at the Terrell and Stringfellow Units in Rosharon, about 45km south of Houston, fearing that the Brazos River could flood the units.

Fort Bend County officials have warned residents of “potential 100-year flood” that could inundate hundreds of homes on Tuesday, including those as far as 8km away from the Brazos River.