At least two dead as heavy rains, floods strike central Texas

Two people have died, and more than 230 were rescued, as torrential rains and flash floods ravaged central Texas this week.

One of the victims, who has not been named, was swept away near Uvalde, a city roughly 138 kilometres (six miles) southwest of San Antonio.

The other, John Mark Steward of Kerrville, Texas, is believed to have died after his mobile home was carried off by floodwaters spilling over from the nearby Goat Creek.

The heavy rainfall began on Tuesday, and storms continue to affect western parts of the state, including Big Bend National Park.

The state has already deployed 2,350 emergency responders to the region, equipped with helicopters and boats to rescue stranded people. One California man, Gabriel Pablo, was plucked from an 18-wheeler that was overtaken by raging floodwaters while driving in the region.

Pablo told San Antonio’s Fox affiliate KABB that the rain swept his truck away “like [it was] nothing”.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 59 counties in the state, calling for round-the-clock emergency operations.

“We are dealing with and responding to a flood that is likely going to break records,” Abbott said in a statement.

“More than 800 vehicles, more than 75 boats, and 20 aircraft have been deployed.”

The National Weather Service reported 25 to 50cm (10 to 20 inches) of rain in parts of Texas, with some areas receiving as much as 60cm (two feet) of precipitation this week alone — more than they might receive in a year.

Nearly 6 million people were placed under flood watches across south and central Texas.

The latest round of extreme rainfall affected the same region where at least 139 people died in floods only a little more than a year ago.

One of the most affected regions was Kerr County, where last year’s devastating floods led to the deaths of 28 campers, staff and counsellors at Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp.

Amid public pressure, the camp did not open for business this summer. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year and faces wrongful death lawsuits over its response to the flooding.

Since the flood last year, the state ramped up efforts to ensure greater emergency preparedness for the region, which is prone to severe weather.

Last September, for instance, Abbott signed a law requiring warning sirens in flood-prone areas across the state, including Kerr County. The law also allocated $50m in funding to help buy and install warning systems.

Just last month, Kerr County announced that the system was operational. KXAN, Austin’s NBC affiliate, reported that sirens went off as floods approached the region before this week’s storms.

Legislation is also in the works on the federal level to improve emergency awareness systems.

Just this week, Senators John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, and Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, introduced legislation that would allow emergency alerts to be delivered by satellite networks to phones when cellular service failed.

The bill is called the Mystic Alerts Act, in honour of the floods at Camp Mystic last year.