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College Station-based emergency rescue teams have been dispatched ahead of heavy rains and flooding expected over the next few days in East Texas.
Texas Task Force 1 deployed six swiftwater rescue teams, helicopter rescue technicians and four liaison officers to cities in southeastern portions of the state to help with any needed search-and-rescue operations. Most of the risk for heavy rain is east of Interstate 45 from Houston to Dallas, officials said.
In all, 49 people from the elite response team and 72 Texas military personnel are preparing for the worst.
"We're continually monitoring the weather situation to determine the best deployment of our rescue teams," said Brian Smith, a spokesman for Texas Task Force 1. "As the weather changes, we make changes as well to stay ahead of where the rescues might need to occur."
The National Weather Service placed the Brazos Valley counties of Robertson, Leon and Milam under a tornado watch from about noon until 6 p.m. Thursday.
About 1 p.m., Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Madison and Washington counties were put under a tornado watch until 9 p.m.
The weather was mainly mild, despite flood and tornado watches, according to law enforcement offices across the Brazos Valley. A wreck was reported in Leon County but no roads were closed because of bad weather.
"There were some bands of rain out that way," said Dan Reilly, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Houston. "There are some radar estimates of up to an inch, but most of it seems to have been more to the east."
About a tenth of an inch of rain was recorded at Easterwood Airport on Thursday.
A flood warning for the Navasota River remained in effect late Thursday night and was set expire Monday morning. The weather service was urging people to stay away from the river until water levels receded and said livestock and equipment should be kept out of the flood plain for a few days.
The Navasota is expected to rise to nearly 17 feet. The flood stage is 15 feet, and levels Thursday morning were around 16.2 feet, according to the weather service.
At 17 feet, "there is widespread inundation of the flood plain in the vicinity of the gauge with the river more than 1 mile wide. Long Trussel Road in northeast Brazos County below State Highway 21 is threatened," the warning said.
Six inches of water moving across a road is capable of moving a car, and 12 to 24 inches of swiftwater can sweep away any type of vehicle.
"Do not drive into water that's moving across a roadway," said Bart Humphreys, a spokesman for the College Station Fire Department. "Just don't take the chance. Just six inches [of water] will make your car float away. Go around it."
He said city crews try to be proactive in taking preventive measures, such as barricading roads prone to flooding and detouring traffic before motorists have the chance to get stranded.
In the county, though, high-water accidents involving vehicles are more common, he said.
Forecasters are predicting that the chances for rain will diminish in coming days.
Friday brings a 50 percent chance for more rain, a high of 63 and a low of 46, according to the weather service.
No rain is predicted for Saturday, when the Aggies face off against Iowa State at Kyle Field. The day should be clear and sunny, with a high of 71 and a low of 49.
Sunday should be more of the same, clear and sunny, and just a little warmer with a high of 73 degrees.
