Date: Fri, 27 May 2016 11:19:49 EDT
Summary: Overnight rainfall amounts of 10 to 17 inches have caused flooding in parts of Central and Southeast Texas.
During the past 12 to 18 hours, a significant band of rainfall from the City of Austin to north of the Houston metropolitan area has resulted in widespread precipitation amounts of 5 to 8 inches, with local amounts exceeding 16 inches. The bulk of this rainfall occurred late evening and into the night and has caused overland flooding and the majority of streams in the effected area to rise rapidly. National Weather Service reports that the record for rainfall in a calendar day at the City of Brenham was broken; 16.62 inches fell yesterday whereas the previous record was 10.38 inches.
The majority of effected streams are in the Colorado, Brazos, and San Jacinto River Basins. Numerous reports of flooded cars and emergency rescues were reported by local news outlets. Currently, no peaks-of-record have been exceeded, although some sites are still rising. In particular, a new peak-of-record may be reached at the Brazos Rv nr Hempstead, TX, which has a period of record of 78 years.
Currently, 8 crews from 3 USGS offices are responding to the event to repair 3 gages and to make discharge measurements at 12 to 15 stations. As of this morning, no gages have been damaged or destroyed. Throughout the event USGS staff have been in contact with local, state, and federal partners including the National Weather Service, Corps of Engineers, Harris County Flood Control District, and the San Jacinto River Authority.