Hundreds of people were ordered to abandon flood-threatened
areas of Texas as heavy rains tattered the state, where at least 15 people have
been killed in weather-related incidents.
People were told to stay away from more than
200 homes in Parker County where the Brazos River was perched to overflow its
banks about 30 miles west of Fort Worth county.
The death toll in Texas was likely to rise, with about a
dozen people still lost and more thunderstorms pelting the already flooded
cities of Houston and Austin.
In Hays County alone, nine people were missing after flood
waters on Monday swept away homes from their foundations. Three people in the
county, about 30 miles (50 km) southwest of Austin, were already confirmed
dead.
At least three people were injured when a tornado beat a
natural gas drilling rig near the Texas panhandle city of Canadian.
The comeback of heavy rains was impeding emergency rescue
efforts transversely the state.
Floods damaged about 4,000 structures and jumbled transport
in Houston, the fourth most-populous U.S. city, where more than a thousand
vehicles were trapped in growing up water.