Gruesome drone footage has captured Texas underwater after catastrophic flash flooding took over the Lone Star State in recent days.
The heavy flooding forced 400 residents to evacuate and destroyed more than 100 homes.
On Friday, heavy storms in Houston stranded drivers and a school bus carrying children that had to be rescued during high tide due to flooding.
The next day, high tides flooded neighborhoods in Houston, while forecasters warned residents that more rain could fall on Sunday, causing further flooding for Harris County.
The aerial photo showed parts of Harris County, one of the nation’s largest, almost completely covered in brown, cloudy floodwaters.
“We’re preparing for the worst,” said Miguel Flores Jr., a resident of the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood.
People are seen walking through murky water in McDade, Texas on Thursday
A woman is seen fighting her way through brown floodwaters as she makes her way to an elderly resident in his RV in Channelview, Texas
Homes were barely visible as most remained flooded Sunday morning.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo warned, “This threat is ongoing and will only get worse. It’s not your typical river flood.”
She further described the flood as ‘catastrophic’ and said hundreds of structures were at risk of flooding.
On Saturday, Hidalgo said 122 pets and 178 people had been rescued from the treacherous conditions.
Schools in the flood’s path have canceled classes and roads remain gridlocked as officials close highways. Authorities have not yet reported any deaths or injuries.
“This way it will continue to rise,” Flores said.
‘We don’t know how much more. We’re just preparing for the worst.’
He told The guard that water from the San Jacinto River has eaten his backyard.
“It’s sad, but what can I do,” Flores said.
The state has been plagued by severe weather since early April as dozens of tornadoes have hit the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast.
Some parts of Texas have been pummeled by softball-sized hail, and relentless rainfall has caused rivers to reach levels not seen since the devastating flooding of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
A Conroe firefighter is seen helping an elderly woman to safety after her home flooded in Conroe, Texas
An SUV is seen almost completely submerged in floodwaters in Spring, Texas, on Thursday
A utility worker is seen repairing power lines after a huge tree fell on a home in Spring, Texas
On Thursday alone, some Texas communities saw more rain than normal in a two-month period.
Friday’s downpour sent Texas officials rushing to err on the side of caution and issue evacuation warnings amid concerns the worst was yet to come.
Shocking footage captured the moment a huge white tractor trailer plunged into deep water in San Jacinto County as bystanders looked on in shock and horror.
The driver was seen in bright neon yellow as he clambered out the window in a frantic attempt to escape the doomed vehicle.
As the truck sank deeper, another truck zoomed past, causing water to flow on both sides, while another vehicle was also able to wade through.
After escaping amid the chaos, the driver found himself sitting on the hood of the vehicle, stuck in the middle of the water formed by the catastrophic flash flood.
For weeks, torrential rains in Texas and parts of Louisiana have filled reservoirs and completely saturated the ground.
Flood waters began partially inundating cars and roads this week in parts of southeastern Texas north of Houston, where high water reached the roofs of some homes.
In the rural community of Shepherd, Gilroy Fernandes said he and his wife had about an hour to evacuate after a mandatory order. Their house is on stilts near the Trinity River, and they felt relief when the waters started to recede Thursday, but things took a turn for the worse overnight.
“Next thing you know, overnight they started releasing more water from the dam at Livingston. And so that caused the level of the river to jump almost one and a half meters overnight,” Fernandes said.
Neighbors who left an hour later found themselves stuck in traffic due to flooding.
A woman is handed her child after being evacuated from her home by boat Friday with the help of deputies from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
A man is rescued by community firefighters in New Caney, Texas on Friday
A close-up view of the terrifying tornado that spun along US 277 west of Hawley on Thursday
Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough claims there have been more high-water rescues than he could count.
“We estimate we’ve had a couple hundred rescues from homes, from homes, from vehicles,” Keough said.
A fierce tornado ripped through a Texas city on Thursday, injuring two people and damaging six homes, weather officials said.
The tornado was first spotted west of Anson around 6:35 p.m. before moving southeast toward Truby and the community of Hodges and Hawley, a town in Jones County.
The funnel made its way toward Abilene in Taylor County, about 200 miles west of Dallas-Fort Worth, before an onlooker spotted it near Highway 277 and 605 near Clear Fork Church.
Terrified motorists were seen trying to get out of harm’s way as the tornado followed close behind them, causing downed trees and power lines, the National Weather Service said.
At 7:23 p.m., the tornado struck County Road 494 and Fulwiler Road in Tye before spinning into cloud formations as hail, described by a witness as “baseball size,” fell from the sky.
The area hit with the most destruction was in the Hawley area, with a population of 579 in 2024, according to World Population Review.
Mike Castillo, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Angelo, told locals KTAB/KRBC of the damage caused by the tornado.
It is not known what injuries the two people sustained.
