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Texas Braces For Heavy Rain As Tropical Wave Gathers Steam In Gulf

This map shows the amount of rain expected in the U.S. over the next three days.
NOAA
This map shows the amount of rain expected in the U.S. over the next three days.

Parts of Texas have barely had time to recover from thelast round of flooding rains, but the National Weather Service is warning that there's more to come this week.

The National Weather Service says a tropical system that is gathering steam in the Gulf of Mexico will bring anywhere from 5 to 10 inches of rain to southeast Texas. Houston, which suffered major flooding late last month, is smack in the middle of that forecast.

CNN reports:

"Local officials sounded even more alarmed, calling the event 'possibly catastrophic.'

" 'While high winds and even tornadoes are possible, already wet grounds mean that even a moderate amount of rain will likely cause street flooding,' warned Harris County Emergency Management. 'Bayous and rivers could go out of banks quickly creating a serious threat to life and property.'

" 'This could be the second major flooding eventfor Texas in less than a month,' said CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray. 'This disturbance will move over portions of Texas that are already so saturated ... more flash flooding will be a concern.' "

In May, Texas set the record for wettest single month. The state recorded 8.81 inches of rain, crushing the previous record of 6.66 inches.

Weather.com says this tropical disturbance is expected to move north and keep bringing rain through North Texas and Oklahoma, which has also seen quite a bit of rain and flooding.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.
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