Floods in Texas. Entire districts are under water and the rain doesn't stop falling

Thunderstorms and heavy rains hit Texas on Saturday. Extreme weather events, from downpours to tornadoes, have been hitting the state for the past month. Some areas received up to seven times more rain than usual. The downpours saturated the soil, making many areas extremely vulnerable to flooding – just before the weekend, rainfall in 24 hours reached up to 300 liters per square meter.

As reported by CNN, the situation in the eastern part of the region is beginning to resemble that after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and further rainfall is expected. The local branch of the National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Saturday that it would rain until at least Sunday afternoon.

The situation is particularly difficult in Harris County, where Houston, Texas' largest city, is located. Almost the entire northern part of the metropolitan area was under water. According to local authorities, police have so far rescued at least 178 people trapped in flooded homes and vehicles. It was also necessary to save over 100 pets.

Houston police officers talked about one such action on social media. On Saturday around noon, officers received a request for assistance from a mobile home park on Lake Houston. After reaching the site, they saw a house surrounded by high water, from which a man and his three dogs were rescued.

Heavy rainfall in Walker and Montgomery counties on Saturday led to the filling of Lake Conroe, an artificial reservoir protected by a dam. Water began to pour into the streets, approaching houses. Officials warned people living south of the dam to be prepared for flooding as the reservoir is drained.

A state of emergency has been declared in more than one third of Texas counties, and according to media forecasts, additional administrative units may join them in the coming days.