Thunderstorms and heavy rain in the Southern Plains of Texas and Oklahoma have been causing floods since the Memorial Day weekend, leading to several deaths.
Towns in both Texas and Oklahoma continue to get rain, and they are being declared as devastated. The rain fell to a maximum depth of 16.07 inches so far, beating the previous record of 13.66 in 1982.
The amount of rain is extremely difficult to deal with, according to the authorities. They say transportation in any form should be avoided. People are also being advised to stay indoors because death is a risk.
So far over 29 people have died in relation to the flood. On Friday, in Dallas, a man was found drowned in his truck. According to Dallas Police spokesman, Juan Fernandez, another body was found floating in the water on Friday. The body was taken to the county medical examiner’s office to determine the cause of death. Eleven people and counting still remain missing.
President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration after severe flooding, and has ordered federal aid to supplement other recovery efforts in the area affected by severe weather since May 4.
Due to the flooding, a historic four-year drought has ended. Many reservoirs are either at or near their capacity. Underground aquifers are being replenished, and lakes are filling up.
According to government data, five percent of the state was under moderate drought conditions, but the excessive rain ended this problem, says authorities.
Sophomore Jared Salasko says, “It is really ironic that all of this destruction caused a solution. It is almost as if this flood needed to happen.”
According to Texas resident Fouad Jaber, it would not be easy for the drought to occur again.
“Even if forecasts for a wet 2015 turn out to be wrong and the rains suddenly disappear, it would take a sustained dry period of about two years to wipe out the gains made in the past two weeks,” Jaber said.
As Texas continues to hope for an end to these storms, meteorologists are unsure when the end is near.
“They are going to get a shot of real heavy rain and hopefully it will let up,” says meteorologist Tom Moore.
Rivers and lakes around cities like Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas are all still flooded, but Moore believes the flooding should be a thing of the past in at most three weeks.
Sophomore Luc Gorham says, “I can’t wait for this to end. I feel very bad for those dealing with this horrific flood in Texas. I hope it ends when meteorologists say it will.”
How long do you think it will take for the storms to end?