Dallas Is The Latest Southern Plains City To Drown

Ellen Bryan of NBC Dallas/Fort Worth Tweeted
images of flooded cars on Dallas area freeways early today.  

The Oklahoma City metro got hammered by flooding earlier this month. Houston metro got it big time last weekend.

Today, it's Dallas and environs that are totally underwater.

Three to seven inches of rain swamped the already soggy city overnight, and just before dawn, it was still raining hard.

In a rather dire flash flood warning, the National Weather Service in Dallas early this morning said, "significant and life threatening flash flooding is occuring near Duck Creek in Garland. Spring Creek and Howlett Creek are also likely overflowing their bans. 

"This is a flash flood emergency for the area from Garland to Allen. Flash flooding is occuring with numerous roads now dangerous and impassable. Multiple high water rescues are occurring. Trave has become impossible  in many areas."

The Dallas Morning News was blogging about an unfolding scene of chaos in North Texas early Friday. Dallas Fire and Rescue was pullling people from cars stuck in flooded roads. Television station WFAA said an apartment complex was being evacuated with water in first floor apartments. White Rock Creek was about to experience a record high flood crest.

Major flooding is now forecast along the Trinity River, the biggest waterway in the Dallas area. It crested at 40 feet the other day, just barely at major flood stage, and is now expected to go to 43 feet. The last time it was at 42 feet was in 1991,

The heavy rain causing the flooding is expected to crawl into eastern Texas today, causing more flooding there.

I'm sure there will be many more updates to this story later today on the news.

The rain is forecast to become somewhat lighter and spottier in the southern Plains over the next few days, but there's still the risk of heavy downpours and more flash flooding in what has been easily the wettest month on record for the region.