Urgent alert: Flash floods threaten Texas just hours after a girl is swept to her death

Officials in Texas are working around the clock to rescue a young girl who was swept away in “rapidly rising floodwaters”, while residents are warned to exercise extreme cautious in response to the floods.

Severe weather and rainstorms battered areas of the south-central United States on Monday and the effects are being felt through Tuesday too. There have been more than 50 storm reports filed across 10 states in recent days, but the worst-affected are believed to be New Mexico and Texas.

Residents in those two states have to warned to brace for continuing severe weather, with strong winds, hailstones and potentially tornadoes set to come.

The NWS Fort Worth TX issued a flash flood warning on Tuesday morning: “At 11:14 a.m., Doppler radar and automated rain gauges indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain across the warned area. Between 0.5 and 2 inches of rain have fallen. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly.”

It warned of: “Flooding of small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets, and underpasses as well as other poor drainage and low-lying areas.”

In the days to come slower-moving thunderstorms, bringing torrential rain, are forecast to hit around the Texas Panhandle and into New Mexico. Officials have warned people to exercise extreme caution in affected areas.

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