Tropical Storm Bill weakens as it moves across Texas

John Bacon, USA TODAY, and KHOU-TV, Houston

Show Caption Hide Caption Tropical Storm Bill brings flooding to Texas coast Tropical Storm Bill brought heavy wind and giant waves to the Galveston shore and flooding to other parts of the Texas coast.

HOUSTON — Tropical Storm Bill smashing into the beleaguered Texas coast Tuesday with heavy rains and 60 mph winds before weakening as it moved across the state.

Severe flooding and possible tornadoes are still possible for the next two days, forecasters said.

The storm made landfall at about 11:45 a.m. CT on southern Matagorda Island, Texas, according to the National Hurricane Center.

As of 4 p.m. CT, winds had dropped to 50 mph and the storm was located 25 miles west of Port O'Connor, Texas. It was moving to the north-northwest at 9 mph, with tropical-storm winds extending up to 150 miles to the northeast and east.

"The biggest takeaways from this storm is heavy rains for two or three days, flash flooding and river flooding," National Weather Service meteorologist Victor Murphy told USA TODAY. The region will see 6-10 inches of rain, and "there will be some areas that get more," he said.

There is no place for the water to go: Texas has been blasted with heavy rains for the last two months. The Gainesville area already has seen 34 inches in 60 days, Murphy said. The annual average rainfall is 40 inches.

In May, both Texas and Oklahoma had their wettest month ever recorded.

MORE: Full-screen interactive of hurricanes in the USA

"Reservoirs are already full," Murphy said. "Instead of taking the water in, they are going to have to release water."

Schools in Houston were closed as the region braced for the onslaught of wind and water. The good news: Bill was expected to weaken after moving over land.

A Flash Flood Watch was effect for the Houston area through 6 p.m. Wednesday with street flooding likely from 6 to 8 inches of rain expected, the National Hurricane Center said. West of Houston, 10 to 15 inches of rain may fall, and south of the city, where heavy rains hit Saturday morning, the ground is already saturated.

Some areas of the state are still recovering from up to 25 inches of rain since early May.

People across Central Texas nervously eyed Tropical Storm Bill's projected path, hoping they could avoid a repeat of last month's deadly floods that killed 20 people and destroyed dozens of homes.

Around San Antonio, a a Flash Flood Watch was extended to midday Thursday.

"The next 24 hours are the most critical here in San Antonio," said KENS-TV Chief Meteorologist Bill Taylor. "We've got spots that cannot handle another two to three inches of rain, and that's what could happen in this."

A Tornado Watch was in effect until midnight Tuesday for the Austin area and into San Marcos. By late Tuesday afternoon, maximum sustained winds had decreased to near 50 mph, with some

higher gusts.

By Wednesday morning, Bill was expected to downgraded to a tropical depression.

Officials in Fayette County, 70 miles east of Austin, found themselves smack in the middle of Bill's inland path. Emergency officials warned residents along the Colorado River whose homes flooded last month to move to higher ground. A local independent school district also suspended all summer school classes for Wednesday.

During last month's floods, homes, parks and trailer homes flooded and two homes were destroyed by tornadoes, said Janet Carrigan, Fayette County's emergency management coordinator. The county used its Facebook page and direct phone calls to warn residents of the new deluge headed their way.

"All of our flood-prone areas are of concern," she said. "Everything is pretty much saturated."

The real test may be coming overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning, when Bill's center travels over the Texas Hill Country between San Antonio and Austin and delivers possibly its heaviest deluge, said Gregory Waller, a hydrologist with the Fort Worth-based West Gulf River Forecast Center, which monitors river flooding in Texas.

The Hill Country's steep, rocky terrain could lead to flash flooding in an area where rivers and lakes are still full from last month's rains.

"Our fear is a nighttime event over the Hill Country of Texas," Waller said. "It could be catastrophic."

On Wednesday, Bill's rains are expected to march north toward the Dallas-Fort Worth, which also experienced flooding during last month's event.

"Instead of just an isolated area, it's going to be area-wide," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.

In North Texas, "We're going to have spillway activity, roads closed, impact to downstream properties," said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers engineer Jerry Cotter.

He said 5 to 7 inches of rain would create flooding very similar to what the area saw two weeks ago. Corps lakes have reduced discharges, but they're still releasing water enough to protect the lakes without doing harm on the lower Trinity River.

"So we've been sitting here waiting for the floods to recede on the lower Trinity," Cotter said. "We haven't made much headway emptying out these flood-control pools."

He said flood control lakes have been performing as they're supposed to. He said Lake Ray Roberts now has a little capacity, which should help, depending on where the rain falls.

"That's what we're hoping," Cotter said. "That we have enough capacity to handle it when it hits."

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said FEMA aid workers had previously been deployed to Denton, Tex. to deal with the May flooding in Texas, and will remain staged there for the tropical storm.

"As of now, there are no unmet needs expressed by state and local officials, but if those needs arise, we have the people in place to help state and local officials meet them," he said.

Rain from the storm is expected to drench portions of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois over the next few days.

Contributing: Jim Douglas, WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth; Doyle Rice, USA TODAY