Flash floods, evacuations in Texas after 2 feet of rain and more to come

Heavy rains inundated many parts of Texas on Saturday, triggering flash floods and forcing evacuations as the state braced for remnants of a powerful storm making its way north through Mexico.

One man was missing in San Antonio after being swept into a drainage ditch by floodwaters as he walked his dog early Saturday, officials said.

A Union Pacific freight train derailed in Navarro County, south of Dallas, as an overflowing creek swamped the tracks. The derailment left locomotives and some rail cars on their sides, according to a company spokesman and TV footage. There were no reported injuries.

Up to 20 inches of rain fell in little more than a day in the Dallas-area town of Powell, according to one report, and dozens of flights at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport were cancelled.

The precipitation was expected to intensify as moisture from tropical depression Patricia, which struck the Pacific coast of Mexico on Friday as a very powerful hurricane, meets over Texas with a storm system coming from the west.

Mexico seemingly was spared the worst of tropical storm Patricia, which had hit record wind speeds for the Western Hemisphere on Friday but weakened as it made its way inwards from the coast.

But there are fears that the storm could now dump further misery and rains in Texas. Flash flood warnings are expected to stay in place in some parts of the state until Monday.

Central, western and northern regions of the state were drenched between Friday and Saturday with between 5 and 6 inches of rain, authorities said in a statement on Saturday morning.

Some parts of the Texas Hill Country in the central part of the state, known to weather officials as “flash flood alley” for its flood-prone conditions, received 8 inches in eight hours Saturday.

Many parts of the state could see similar amounts of rain over the weekend, according to a statement from the Texas Division of Emergency Management. Flash flood watches and warnings covered every major population center in Texas, areas where millions of people live.

Cities in southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, including Houston, were among those bracing for rain totals up to 20 inches. Weather authorities said coastal flood watches and warnings will be in effect for most of the day Sunday.

In Navarro County south of Dallas, authorities requested sandbags for an unspecified number of homes that were being evacuated due to flooding.

In Galveston County, Judge Mark Henry on Saturday issued a voluntary evacuation for Bolivar Peninsula, just northeast of Galveston Island, after forecasters predicted that the area would get 8 to 12 inches of rain and tides that are 4 to 5 feet high.

The judge warned that residents who don't leave might find themselves cut off from emergency services as the heaviest winds and rains come ashore. The storm was expected to reach the area by around 6 p.m. Saturday.

"Elderly residents and people with medical conditions should make plans to leave the area before dark," Henry said.

And in San Antonio, high water led to the closing of dozens of streets, according to the city's emergency operations center. A man who fell into floodwaters and disappeared while walking with his girlfriend and a dog was declared missing.

"His girlfriend said she saw him go underwater and then she lost sight of him," said Christian Bove of the San Antonio Fire Department.

Heavy rain also flooded streets in parts of the state capital, Austin, which has a population of about 910,000.

Wire services