Texas storms cause flooding, damage buildings

Texas, USA
June 25, 2007
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Rainstorms accompanied by high winds swept across Texas on Monday, flooding streets, swelling creeks to near flood stage and damaging buildings.

Storms in North Texas were dropping five centimetres of rain an hour Monday afternoon.

In Rhome, about 40 kilometres northwest of Fort Worth, straight-line winds blew over fences, damaged roofs and sent a metal pole crashing through the roof of one building, said Susan Gomez, a spokeswoman for the Wise County Sheriff's Department

Sustained rainfall over the last month has left the ground saturated and parts of North, Central and East Texas are at high risks of flash flooding. The severe weather shows no sign of letting up, with chances of rain and thunderstorms as high as 90 per cent in some parts of Texas today.

More rain is bringing another week of mild weather. "This is a RARE event. We are more in a mode representative of May or September. This year is pretty special." The rains are causing much more green plant growth than is usual for this time of year, helping to lower temperatures.