Tropical Depression Bill threatens Texas with more flooding

Flooding is still a threat in Texas, thanks to the rain from Tropical Depression Bill, according to the National Weather Service.

An additional 6 to 8 inches of rain is still expected in the Texas area Wednesday and Thursday, bringing with it the threat of flash floods to the region. That’s bad news for a state recovering from last month’s record-setting rainfall and deadly flooding.

Torrential rains dumped 37.3 trillion gallons of water on parts of Texas during the month of May, enough to cover the entire state with 8 inches of water, according to the National Weather Service.

Emergency management officials say the already wet ground means that even moderate rainfall could lead to street flooding.

In Dallas, the Trinity River is already above flood stage and the National Weather Service expects it to rise by as much as nine more feet by Thursday.

Kevin Oden with the Dallas Office of Emergency Management told CNN that because of the high levees in most of the city, he’s not extremely concerned about flooding and it shouldn’t cause any evacuations.

“The Trinity River being above flood stage does not really mean a lot because there are 60-foot levees along the river,” said Oden. “We are watching the rain though. We are not too concerned about flash flooding, but what will cause flooding is after the rain is over and the lake levels rise, water will have to be released.”

“We know where it will flood and it’s not in a residential area. It’s where the Trinity River goes through the northwest side of Dallas,” he added.

Lake Lewisville and Grapevine Lake, about 20 miles outside Dallas, both feed into the Trinity River, Oden explained.

The Luna Vista Golf Course sits on the edge of that river and is already closed because of flooding, golf pro Mickey Piersall told CNN. “The river runs right by our property, and our golf course drainage goes to the river and can’t drain when it’s this high. The golf course is under water from the rain,” he said.

Bill made landfall as a tropical storm at 12:45 p.m. ET Tuesday, just south-southwest of Port O’Connor on Matagorda Island. It was downgraded to a tropical depression Wednesday morning by the National Hurricane Center, which said the storm is expected to weaken further as it travels toward northeastern Oklahoma.