Horrifying drone footage has captured Texas underwater after catastrophic flash flooding gripped the Lone Star State in recent days.
Intense flooding forced the evacuation of 400 residents and destroyed more than 100 homes.
On Friday, severe storms in Houston left drivers stranded and a school bus with children needing rescue due to flooding.
The next day, high water inundated neighborhoods in Houston as forecasters warned residents that additional rain could fall on Sunday, leading to more flooding in Harris County.
The aerial shot showed parts of Harris County, one of the largest in the country, almost completely covered by murky, brown flood water.
“We’re preparing for the worst,” said Miguel Flores Jr., a resident of Kingwood, a Houston neighborhood.
People are seen walking through murky water in McDade, Texas, on Thursday.
A woman is seen wading through brown flood water as she heads to check on an elderly resident inside her mobile home in Channelview, Texas.
The houses were barely visible as most of them remained underwater on Sunday morning.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo warned: ‘This threat continues and is going to get worse. It is not the typical river flood.
He also described the surge of water as “catastrophic” and said several hundred structures were at risk of flooding.
As of Saturday, Hidalgo said 122 pets and 178 people were rescued from the dangerous conditions.
Schools in the path of the flood have canceled classes and roads remain congested as officials closed roads. Authorities have not yet reported any deaths or injuries.
“It’s going to continue to increase this way,” Flores said.
‘We don’t know how much more. “We are preparing for the worst.”
He said The Guardian that the water of the San Jacinto River has consumed his backyard.
“It’s sad, but what can I do?” Flores said.
The state has been hit by brutal weather conditions since early April when dozens of tornadoes have ripped through the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast.
Parts of Texas have been hit by baseball-sized hail, and relentless rain has caused rivers to reach levels not seen since the devastating flooding of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
A Conroe firefighter is seen carrying an elderly woman to safety after her home flooded in Conroe, Texas.
A pickup truck is seen almost completely submerged in flood water Thursday in Spring, Texas.
A utility worker is seen tying up power lines after a huge tree fell on a home in Spring, Texas.
On Thursday alone, some Texas communities saw more precipitation than they would normally receive in a two-month period.
Friday’s downpour left Texas officials scrambling to take precautionary measures and issue evacuation warnings, worried that the worst was yet to come.
Shocking footage captured the moment a huge white tractor-trailer plunged into deep flood waters in San Jacinto County as bystanders looked on in shock and horror.
The driver dressed in bright neon yellow was seen climbing out of the window in a frantic attempt to escape the doomed vehicle.
As the truck continued to sink deeper and deeper, another truck sped past, sending water gushing to both sides, while another vehicle also managed to pass through it.
After escaping amid the chaos, the driver climbed onto the hood of the vehicle, trapped in the middle of the mass of water formed by the catastrophic flash flood.
For weeks, torrential rains in Texas and parts of Louisiana have filled reservoirs and completely saturated the soil.
Flooding began partially submerging cars and roads this week in parts of southeast 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. His house is on stilts near the Trinity River and they were relieved when the water began to recede Thursday, but things got worse overnight.
The next thing you knew, overnight they started releasing more water from the Livingston Dam. And that caused the river level to rise almost five or six feet overnight,” Fernandes said.
Residents who left an hour later were stuck in traffic due to flooding.
A woman welcomes her son after being evacuated by boat from their homes with the help of deputies from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office on Friday.
A man is rescued by the Community Fire Department in New Caney, Texas, on Friday
A close-up of the terrifying tornado spinning on US 277 west of Hawley on Thursday.
Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough says there have been more high-water rescues than he could count.
“We estimate we’ve had a couple hundred rescues from homes, houses and vehicles,” Keough said.
A fierce tornado ripped through a Texas town on Thursday, injuring two and damaging six homes in its path, weather officials reported.
The tornado was first seen west of Anson around 6:35 p.m. before moving southeast toward Truby and the community of Hodges and Hawley, a city in Jones County.
The funnel headed toward Abilene in Taylor County, located about 180 miles west of Dallas-Fort Worth, before a spectator spotted it near Highways 277 and 605 near Clear Fork Church.
Terrified motorists were seen trying to get to safety as the tornado followed closely, causing downed trees and power lines, according to the National Weather Service.
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 one witness as “the size of a baseball,” fell from the sky.
The area affected by the most destruction was located in the Hawley area, with a population of 579 in 2024, according to World Population Review.
Mike Castillo, alert coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Angelo, told locals KTAB/KRBC of the damage caused by the tornado.
It is unknown what injuries the two people suffered.
