Storm brings heavy rain to Texas
A powerful storm swept across southern USA over the weekend, bringing heavy rain and hail to parts of Texas and Louisiana. The National Weather Service said the storm was part of an area of severe weather moving across the region, also delivering heavy rain to the region earlier in the week.
Due to previous heavy rain, the ground from north-east Texas to southern Missouri was heavily saturated, meaning the water table was close to the surface of the ground. This meant further rain over the weekend created a number of flash floods. In Longview, Texas, around 1.70 inches (4.3cm) of rain fell in just over half an hour, creating widespread flooding.
The county of Sabine, close to the Louisiana border, received between 10 and 14 inches (25-36cm) over the weekend, which resulted in the closure of a number of main roads. The rain has eased slightly overnight allowing some of the flood waters to begin to recede, but forecasters expect the rain to continue through Monday.
