Heavy rain from Bill causes new floods in North Texas

Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY, WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth and KHOU-TV, Houston | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Dramatic high water rescue caught on camera The rain came down fast and hard Wednesday evening and lead to 14 high water rescues across the San Antonio, Texas area. Cameras were rolling when firefighters rescued three teenagers trapped on their car in quick-moving water.

DALLAS — Although Tropical Storm Bill weakened to a tropical depression Wednesday, the weather system still packed heavy Gulf Coast rain that caused a new round of flooding from already swollen lakes and rivers in North Texas.

"Rainfall will result in significant flooding across central and eastern Texas and into southern Oklahoma through Wednesday night," AccuWeather meteorologist Chyna Glenn said.

The rain may cause life-threatening flash floods, the National Weather Service warned.

Close to 20 people were rescued Wednesday afternoon when torrential rains caused flooding in parts of Wise County, notably in the small town of Chico.

Volunteer fire crews helped 15 people to safety off one road alone, according to the Chico Fire Department.

"It was bad a few weeks ago, but not like this, so quick," said Capt. Priscilla Hardin. "We were just basically running back and forth, rescue to rescue.

"We had to use safety lines, harnesses, floats. You name it, there is a lot of work," said Hardin.

Elsewhere, the Salt Creek Fire Department responded to a caved-in roadway off Saddle Ridge Road. Photos showed a sinkhole 10 feet across and 20- to 30-feet deep.

Meanwhile, a Flood Advisory was issued for Dallas, Tarrant, Ellis, Johnson and Hill Counties.

Ganada — a small town southwest of Houston — had reported almost a foot of rain from the storm so far.

The full impact won't be felt for 24 to 36 hours, as water racing over heavily saturated ground pours into storm sewers and streams and then into bloated reservoirs.

Heavy rain from Bill causes new Texas floods Many parts of Jasper County, Texas were under water Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, following hours of heavy rainfall brought on by Tropical Depression Bill.

At that point, depending on the amount collected, the reservoirs will discharge more water into the Trinity River, potentially threatening the heart of downtown Dallas.

"The rain event itself is not as worrisome to us as what could happen two days after the rain has ended," said Rocky Vaz from the Dallas Office of Emergency Management.

Wednesday evening the remnants of Tropical Storm Bill headed toward the Red River, the border with Oklahoma.

Tropical Depression Bill causes flooding in Texas Tropical Storm Bill weakened to a tropical depression and brought heavy rains and flooding to parts of Texas.

After setting a rainfall record for the month of May, the National Weather Service said Dallas set a new precipitation record for June 17 at the official Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport reporting station. Most locations in the area got 2 inches or more of rain, with more than 3 inches in parts of Fort Worth and in Wise and Denton counties.

Although the worst effects of the rising water won't be felt for 24 hours, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, by measuring Wednesday's rainfall amounts and where it fell could predict that impact, said Clay Church, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Fort Worth.

Three of the six reservoirs on the Trinity River were already above flood stage and rapidly discharging waters from earlier rains.

D/FW Airport recorded 32 canceled departure flights Wednesday morning due to the weather. But that's a relatively low number considering the 1,800 departures and arrivals it tracks each day, airport spokesman David Magaña said.

The general lack of lightning from Bill's deluges allowed flights to keep their schedules, he said.

"It's a lot of rain, but for the most part people are getting to where they need to go," Magaña said.

The National Weather Service has also issued a flash flood warning for seven counties in southeastern Texas.

Sealy, a town of 6,200 in the Houston metropolitan area was particularly hard hit. Some people were rescued from their flooded vehicles, police said. Power outages were also reported throughout the area.

Sealy was among a number of communities in southeastern Texas bracing for floods, including Hempstead, Prairie View, East Bernard, Wallis, Pine Island, Simonton, San Felipe, Pattison, Egypt and Monaville.

High water lead to the dramatic rescue of close to three dozen dogs from a no kill animal shelter near El Campo Wednesday morning.

"The floodwaters just came out and rose quickly," said Melissa Parr, who owns the Boarding for Rescues Animal Shelter, about 7 miles west of El Campo. "Put out a plea on Facebook and people just started coming out."

About 40 people showed up to help, including Raul Cortez and his family who live across the street from the shelter. "We had to carry the dogs out," said Cortez. "There were a lot of short dogs. The water was well above my knee."

Volunteers managed to safely pull out all 34 animals, which are being housed temporarily at the Wharton County Fairgrounds.

The NWS said rainfall in North Texas would average 2 to 6 inches, with isolated totals of 6 to 12 inches possible. Rain will begin to taper off Friday into the weekend.

Further north, an arm of rainfall averaging 3-6 inches will extend as far to the north as southern Missouri. Locally heavier amounts are possible, AccuWeather predicts.

The heavy rainfall will not stop over the southern Plains and the middle Mississippi Valley. Rain heavy enough to cause flooding will be funneled into part of the Midwest and the East by the end of the week and into the weekend.

Tropical Storm Bill adds insult to injury in Texas As Tropical Storm Bill makes its way North, some parts of the country will see more rain than they hoped for.

Contributing: Rich Jervis and Doyle Rice, USA TODAY; The Associated Press