Updated at 4 p.m. Thursday: Revised to include a new approximation of the number of submerged vehicles.

Heavy rain that pelted North Texas overnight Wednesday swamped a parking garage at Dallas Love Field, submerging about 75 vehicles.

The airport recorded 3.62 inches of rain through Wednesday afternoon, more than the Dallas-Fort Worth area averages in the entire month of April, according to the National Weather Service.

Flooding has become a significant and potentially costly problem at Love Field. A recent briefing to the City Council said it will cost about $127 million to upgrade the airport’s drainage.

The flooding was caused by the same thing that has put Love Field underwater in the past: a stormwater outflow that's too narrow to handle that much water coming in such a short time. In a two-hour span, 1.65 inches of rain fell.

1 / 7City of Dallas employee Holvin Rivera Reyes removes debris as water is pumped out of the lower level of parking garage A at Dallas Love Field in Dallas on Wednesday, April 23, 2019. The airport closed the lower level to traffic. Water is being pumped from the flooded areas by city staff employees. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 2 / 7Flooded cars parked in the lower level of parking garage A at Dallas Love Field under water due to heavy rains overnight in Dallas on Wednesday, April 23, 2019. The airport closed the lower level to traffic. Water is being pumped from the flooded areas by city staff employees. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 3 / 7Flooded cars parked in the lower level of parking garage A at Dallas Love Field under water due to heavy rains overnight in Dallas on Wednesday, April 23, 2019. The airport closed the lower level to traffic. Water is being pumped from the flooded areas by city staff employees. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 4 / 7Flooded cars parked in the lower level of parking garage A at Dallas Love Field under water due to heavy rains overnight in Dallas on Wednesday, April 23, 2019. The airport closed the lower level to traffic. Water is being pumped from the flooded areas by city staff employees. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 5 / 7Rental car and shuttle pickup/drop off lanes in the lower level with flooded water at Dallas Love Field due to heavy rains overnight in Dallas on Wednesday, April 23, 2019. The airport closed the lower level to traffic. Water is being pumped from the flooded areas by city staff employees. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 6 / 7Flooded cars parked in the lower level of parking garage A at Dallas Love Field under water due to heavy rains overnight in Dallas on Wednesday, April 23, 2019. The airport closed the lower level to traffic. Water is being pumped from the flooded areas by city staff employees. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 7 / 7Water is pumped out of a flooded lower level parking garage A at Dallas Love Field under water due to heavy rains overnight in Dallas on Wednesday, April 23, 2019. The airport closed the lower level to traffic. Water is being pumped from the flooded areas by city staff employees. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

"When we have a very heavy, concentrated event, the stormwater system serving Love Field is not able to handle the volume,” said Mark Duebner, Dallas' director of aviation. “And that causes the water to back up into the lowest levels of Garage A."

Duebner said water usually drains rapidly through surrounding neighborhoods on its way to the Trinity River. That didn't happen this time.

As a result, he said, "we are working with stormwater operations and running cameras through the system to see if there's a blockage."

Dozens of cars parked at the Dallas Love Field Airport garage were flooded this morning due to heavy rain. Details: https://t.co/J612hMDlXm #NBCDFWWeather pic.twitter.com/lku4d9xUoS — NBCDFW Weather (@NBCDFWWeather) April 24, 2019

Crews worked to pump the water out Wednesday and were prepared to return to the job in the event of another deluge.

Lower-level ground transportation was closed through Wednesday night in case of more rain, the city of Dallas said in an email. Passengers looking for ground transportation were directed to the upper-level roadway. Customers driving to the airport were urged to park in Garage C to avoid stormwater.

Water is pumped out of a parking garage at Dallas Love Field airport after storms overnight. @dallasnews pic.twitter.com/XfkPTOYDl6 — Vernon Bryant (@vernonbryant) April 24, 2019

‘This is unreal’

When Kim Torbert’s son Chris asked her to search Garage A for his truck, he had no hope of saving it from the water, she said.

He had worried the flooding would recede before his return from a trip to Boston, leaving him without documentation of the damage to send his insurance company, his mother said.

By the time she found the truck about 10 a.m., oily water reached the door handles.

Level 1 row C in @DallasLoveField parking garage A is currently being drained after the heavy rain yesterday. @dallasnews pic.twitter.com/ysgsNqGgG1 — Raegan Scharfetter (@raescharfetter) April 24, 2019

Returning travelers who find that their vehicles have been underwater may wonder whether the city will pay for the damage. That remains up in the air.

"If someone wants to file a claim, there's a process by which they can do so," Duebner said. "The claim will be reviewed, and someone other than the airport does the process, and a determination will be made whether the city has a responsibility."

People whose vehicles flooded should file claims with their insurance companies and then turn in incident reports to the city's Office of Risk Management, officials said.

Love Field spokesman Chris Perry said the flooded vehicles won't be towed for now so their owners can work out claims with their insurance companies.

He said the lower-level garage was partially submerged after heavy rain April 13, but the flooding was not nearly as extensive then. He said airport and city officials are working together to find a solution.

Flooding, severe weather across area

Although Love Field's weather problems were some of the most dramatic Wednesday, heavy rain caused trouble across Dallas-Fort Worth.

Carrollton police reported widespread flash flooding overnight, with trouble spots including Josey and Sherwood lanes, as well as Hebron Parkway and Rolling Oaks Drive.

In Garland, street-flooding gates were closed at Castle Drive near Firewheel Parkway, Campbell Road at Rowlett Creek and Naaman School Road at Spring Creek, the city reported. Video taken Wednesday morning by KDFW-TV (Channel 4) showed portions of Firewheel Golf Park underwater.

The Lewisville Office of Emergency Management asked drivers to avoid northbound Josey, south of Windhaven Parkway, because of flooding.

Oncor said that more than 28,000 customers were affected by power outages during Tuesday's and Wednesday's storms.

In Plano, one building at an apartment complex in the 600 block of Legacy Drive was badly damaged in a fire that broke out about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. Officials said the blaze may have been caused by lightning. No one was injured.

Lightning also was suspected in a fire that damaged a home in Lucas.

In Frisco, lightning was blamed for a house fire that started about 11 p.m. in the 10000 block of Robincreek Lane. No one was injured, fire officials said.

The weather service issued a flood warning for White Rock Creek at Greenville Avenue, where the water level rose overnight to 89.38 feet, more than five feet above flood stage. However, officials said the river had crested and would be receding.

The weather service also issued a flood warning for the Elm Fork Trinity River near Carrollton, where the water level crested at 10.04 feet Wednesday morning. The flood stage for that portion of the river is 8 feet.

Staff writers Sara Coello, Sarah Sarder and Dana Branham contributed to this report.

Do you live near a low-water crossing? Use this interactive map to find low-water crossings in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Here's the latest forecast from KXAS-TV (NBC5):

Thursday: 74/59, morning showers

Friday: 80/62

Saturday: 83/64

Sunday: 85/64