Flood warning issued for Dallas County – The Dallas Morning News
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins declared a state of disaster as thunderstorms drenched Dallas-Fort Worth Monday after a storm system brought a deluge of heavy rain that flooded homes and submerged cars.
When disasters are declared, it can open up manpower for a speedier response, and the declaration also opens up federal financial assistance. Homeowners affected can report damages on the Texas Division of Emergency Management website, Jenkins said.
Based on preliminary damage assessments, I am declaring a state of disaster in Dallas County and requesting state and federal assistance for affected individuals. There are thresholds that must be met for each type of assistance.
Please report your damage using this link….— Clay Jenkins (@JudgeClayJ) August 22, 2022
Emergency crews across the region had responded to hundreds of water-related emergencies by midday, though no deaths were immediately reported. But the flooding still wreaked havoc on the Monday morning commutes of thousands, including students across North Texas who recently started school.
Parts of Dallas were forecasted to receive 8 inches of rain. In some areas, the rainfall far exceeded those expectations. One reading near South Dallas and Pleasant Grove captured more than 14 inches of rainfall over the past 24 hours, according to the Dallas Water Utility. Neighborhoods closer to downtown Dallas recorded more than 10 inches of rainfall.
The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for Dallas County until 4 p.m. Monday. An earlier flash flood warning in Dallas County lapsed at 1 p.m. A flood watch remains in effect until 8 p.m. for parts of North Texas.
At least 1 death from flood; damages, injuries and outages
At least one person was killed in the flood waters this morning, according to the Mesquite Fire Department. A woman’s body was pulled from the Scyene Road bridge at the Interstate 635 Service Road in Mesquite as the water receded, according to the fire department.
Fire officials said the woman’s car may have been swept off the road. Her identity was not released and the incident is under investigation, officials said.
At least four people have been taken to hospitals due to weather-related incidents, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue. There are 50 traffic signals either without power or not properly working, the city’s transportation department said.
As of 6 p.m., Oncor reported 525 outages affecting more than 11,000 customers due to the heavy rain, lightning and wind gusts from the thunderstorms, according to Oncor spokeswoman Connie Piloto.
“These weather impacts can also cause vehicle accidents and trees or debris to come into contact with our power lines or equipment,” Piloto said in an email.
Piloto said the flooding may cause delays in restoration times for those experiencing outages. It’s unclear when power will be restored.
About 20 roads and bridges have been closed due to high water as of 11:30 a.m. including the Sylvan Avenue Bridge over the Trinity River, Dallas’ emergency management office director Rocky Vaz said. Police are stationed around at least 22 other impacted locations waiting for barricades from public works crews, Vaz said.
“I think we’ve seen the worst of it at this point,” Vaz said. “We don’t expect to see as much rainfall in the coming days. Hopefully everything will drain out before the end of the …….