Five die as Texas is hit by heavy rain. by Steph Ball
Torrential rain in northern Texas over the past two days has left 5 people dead and destroyed hundreds of homes. The towns of Sherman and Gainsville near the Oklahoma border were amongst the worst hit by the storm, with Sherman experiencing its worst flooding in 25 years.
The 16,000 residents of Gainsville awoke on Monday morning to rapidly rising floodwaters which later flooded more than 500 homes. Officials at the US National Weather Service said that the rain was coming down at a rate of 25mm every 15 minutes, which led to the town receiving a total of 127mm (5 inches) of rainfall between Sunday and Monday night. Spokesman Gary Woodall said “we get heavy rains in North Texas but the rate, the amount, the duration and the coverage of this is just amazing.”
As the thunderstorms head eastwards towards the lower Mississippi Valley later tonight, further bursts of heavy rain are expected which could result in even more flooding across the eastern states of America.
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