Flash Flooding and Flooding in Texas, June 24 to 29, 2019

Numerous large mesquite and a few large ash tree limbs, including some uprooted trees, were seen on an NWS Storm Survey in western Willacy County from State Highway 186 about 8 miles west of Raymondville through and just south of Lasara along FM-1015. A few power lines were also felled. Wind speed estimated from the damage indicators and radar estimates.

An off-duty NWS employee, along with local news media, reported a tractor trailer jack-knifed with the cab dangling on the side of Interstate 69C on the overpass above FM 490 just north of the South Texas International Airport. It was not determined if the jack-knife was caused by wind, slick roads, or both, but wind gusts over 40 mph had begun as persistent outflows from a developing mesoscale convective system over eastern Hidalgo and western Willacy County.

A strong cloud to ground lightning bolt struck and set ablaze a wind turbine and tower at the Willacy County Los Vientos wind farm during the initial severe thunderstorm that impacted the county during the early evening of June 24, 2019. Another strike destroyed a small grain silo just to the west of Lyford and Raymondville. Time of the strike is estimated from peak lightning frequency, which exceeded 300 cloud to ground strikes in 15 minutes.

A severe thunderstorm produced sporadic straight line wind damage|from Monte alto to portions of north Elsa during the evening of|June 24th. Storm motion was from northeast to southwest out of western Willacy County, and several large tree limbs were snapped, and a few trees were uprooted, on the east side of Monte Alto. Winds also caused a free standing metal tower to collapse in Monte Alto. As the storm moved southwestward, large swaths of sugar cane were|noticeably bent towards the ground. Farther west, two poorly |constructed mobile homes were completely destroyed and another was|rolled on its side in a colonia about 2 miles west of Monte Alto. Near Elsa, just off of Monte Cristo Road, over a dozen wooden power poles were snapped across N. Mile Five and One-Half Road. Some metal sheet roofing was torn from a nearby home, and a storage shed had considerable damage to walls and roofing. Based on the construction quality of the buildings and the transmission tower, and the type of trees damaged, peak wind speeds were estimated at 65 to 75 mph.

A large tree was blown down on the road near the Edinburg/McAllen line 5 miles southwest of Edinburg. Large branches were also blown down nearby. Peak wind gusts at McAllen/Miller International Airport reached 41 mph (36 knots) but reached 52 mph (45 knots) at South Texas International Airport (about 11 miles north of Edinburg) during the same time period.

In addition to damaging winds that were surging through the area, the County Emergency Management staff reported estimated nickel-sized hail with the same severe thunderstorm in eastern Hidalgo County. Torrential, sideways-moving rain was also reported.

One tree was blown down along Cummings Road in Donna. Time estimated from radar and from nearby gust to 41 mph at McAllen/Miller Airport at 734 PM CDT.

Penny sized hail was reported in Alamo as a strong thunderstorm passed through just before sunset.

Measured and estimated rainfall between 8 and 15.2 inches that fell predominantly from early evening June 24th through a bit after midnight on June 25th produced widespread flash flooding across northwestern Cameron County. Hardest hit locations were the west side of Harlingen through La Feria, north to Santa Rosa, and back east to near Combes.

In the tri-county area (western Willacy, northwestern Cameron, and southeastern Hidalgo), 1188 homes were considered destroyed or with major damage, with an additional 182 homes with minor damage. Hundreds of streets flooded, including 30 Texas-managed highways. This included the frontage roads of Interstate 2 and Interstate 69E (with up to four feet of water in Cameron County).

More than 100 persons were evacuated to higher ground when dozens of homes were threatened by 2 to 4 feet of water in each county. In northwestern Cameron County, total neighborhoods were inundated with 1 to 3 feet of water in northwest Harlingen, Santa Rosa (where some reports noted 4 feet of water depth), and Combes. | |Individual Assistance costs for the affected area in the three counties was estimated at $27.6 million as of early August 2019; Public Assistance values were unknown but likely to add to the damage, which will be estimated at $75 million in all three counties. Daily rainfall records were set in the flood area, including 6.29 inches in Harlingen, more than four inches above the prior calendar day record (2.23 inches in 1926). The total was also a new daily record for the month (5.89 on June 20, 2018); records date back to 1912 at the site.

Despite the flooding and damage, much which occurred in the dark, there were no know deaths of injuries directly attributed to the flood.

Measured and estimated rainfall between 6 and 15 inches that fell predominantly from early evening June 24th through a bit after midnight on June 25th produced widespread flash flooding across southeastern Hidalgo County. Hardest hit locations were near the Cameron and Willacy County line, including locations just west of Santa Rosa through Monte Alto, and between Sebastian and Elsa.

In the tri-county area (western Willacy, northwestern Cameron, and southeastern Hidalgo), 1188 homes were considered destroyed or with major damage, with an additional 182 homes with minor damage. Hundreds of streets flooded, including 30 Texas-managed highways. This included the frontage roads of Interstate 2 and Interstate 69E. More than 100 persons were evacuated to higher ground when dozens of homes were threatened by 2 to 4 feet of water in each county; Monte Alto was hardest hit in Hidalgo County. Individual Assistance costs were estimated at $27.6 million as of early August 2019; Public Assistance values were unknown but likely to add to the damage, which will be estimated at $75 million in all three counties. Daily rainfall records were set in the flood area, including 6.95 inches in Weslaco, more than 3 inches above the prior record for the date set in 1951.

Despite the flooding and damage, much which occurred in the dark, there were no know deaths of injuries directly attributed to the flood.

Measured and estimated rainfall between 8 and 12 or more inches that fell predominantly from early evening June 24th through a bit after midnight on June 25th produced widespread flash flooding across western Willacy County. Hardest hit locations were Sebastian, Lyford, Raymondville, and La Sara.

In the tri-county area (western Willacy, northwestern Cameron, and southeastern Hidalgo), 1188 homes were considered destroyed or with major damage, with an additional 182 homes with minor damage. Hundreds of streets flooded, including 30 Texas-managed highways. This included the frontage roads of Interstate 2 and Interstate 69E.

More than 100 persons were evacuated to higher ground when dozens of homes were threatened by 2 to 4 feet of water in each county; the entire western two thirds of Raymondville was under 1 to 3 feet of water; up to 4 feet was noted in LaSara during the peak of the heavy rain just before midnight on June 24th, and poor drainage flow in canals and ditches backed up water into Sebastian well after the rain had ended. |Individual Assistance costs for the affected area in the three counties was estimated at $27.6 million as of early August 2019; Public Assistance values were unknown but likely to add to the damage, which will be estimated at $75 million in all three counties. Daily rainfall records were set in the flood area, including 9.7 inches in Raymondville which shattered the prior daily record by nearly 8 inches on the date (prior was 1.83 inches in 1923) and set a new daily record for the month of June (prior was 6.23 in 1993), with records going back to 1910.

Despite the flooding and damage, much which occurred in the dark, there were no know deaths of injuries directly attributed to the flood.

Slow drainage of torrential rains of 6 to 15 inches in just six hours during the evening of June 24th through just after midnight on June 25th maintained widespread flooding of 1 to as much as 3 feet of water depth across many neighborhoods and roads in the eastern portion of the Rio Grande Valley. Hundreds of roads remained closed or impassible, and hundreds to more than a thousand homes continued to have some water in them for several (mainly fair weather days) following the causative event. Water did not recede completely in some neighborhoods until up to 2 weeks following the rains, much due to the interconnected drainage system which was unable to handle the rainfall rate, which was a 1 in 500 probability event occurring in locations only built to sustain 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 probability events.

Please note: Damage listed here is only a fraction of the total damage which is shown in the flash flood entries for these locations.

Slow drainage of torrential rains of 6 to 15 inches in just six hours during the evening of June 24th through just after midnight on June 25th maintained widespread flooding of 1 to as much as 3 feet of water depth across many neighborhoods and roads in the eastern portion of the Rio Grande Valley. Hundreds of roads remained closed or impassible, and hundreds to more than a thousand homes continued to have some water in them for several (mainly fair weather days) following the causative event. Water did not recede completely in some neighborhoods until up to 2 weeks following the rains, much due to the interconnected drainage system which was unable to handle the rainfall rate, which was a 1 in 500 probability event occurring in locations only built to sustain 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 probability events.

Please note: Damage listed here is shown as *zero*. Estimated total damage for this event is listed in the flash flood entries for these locations.

Slow drainage of torrential rains of 6 to 15 inches in just six hours during the evening of June 24th through just after midnight on June 25th maintained widespread flooding of 1 to as much as 3 feet of water depth across many neighborhoods and roads in the eastern portion of the Rio Grande Valley. Hundreds of roads remained closed or impassible, and hundreds to more than a thousand homes continued to have some water in them for several (mainly fair weather days) following the causative event. Water did not recede completely in some neighborhoods until up to 2 weeks following the rains, much due to the interconnected drainage system which was unable to handle the rainfall rate, which was a 1 in 500 probability event occurring in locations only built to sustain 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 probability events.

Please note: Damage listed here is shown as *zero*. Estimated total damage for this event is listed in the flash flood entries for these locations.