Tropical Weather System Drenches South Texas, Flooding Reported

The entire Texas coastline has been drenched this week with heavy rains resulting in flooding in many areas with several cities reporting rainfall totals in excess of 12 inches.

The Insurance Council of Texas is issuing a reminder that record rainfalls and flooding can happen even without a hurricane making landfall.

The National Weather Service reported this week’s storm system in south Texas was the result of “an elongated upper level disturbance.”

Widespread flooding has been reported in many areas of the Rio Grande Valley.

The highest total rainfalls occurred in Harlingen with 16 inches, and 8 to 13 inches were reported in Los Fresnos, Weslaco, Mercedes and north Brownsville. Valley International Airport reported more than 9 inches of rain over a 2 ½-hour period, and Corpus Christi has received 14 inches of rain since the storm began Tuesday.

“Especially along the Texas coast, flood insurance offers homeowners the protection they may need when tropical storms stall and the area is deluged with rain,” Mark Hanna, an ICT spokesperson, said in a statement. “This has not been an isolated storm. We have seen flooding from Brownsville to Corpus Christi and flash flood warnings posted throughout southeast Texas.”

In many areas of Texas coast, only a small percentage of homeowners have flood insurance. Only 12 percent of the homeowners in Brownsville and Cameron County have flood insurance, while 20 percent of the homeowners in Corpus Christi and Nueces County have flood coverage, according to the ICT.

Hanna said the area’s economy and consumers underestimating their risk of flood, often plays a role in how many homeowners actually purchase flood insurance coverage.

Topics Texas Flood Homeowners