After flooding parts of Texas, storms head for Louisiana

Fire crews rescued about two dozen motorists stranded by high water in Houston as torrential rains pounded southeastern Texas on Sunday, triggered by the meeting of two storm systems, one the remnants of Hurricane Patricia.

The heaviest band of rain had moved over the Gulf of Mexico and was heading toward southwest Louisiana, the National Weather Service said. As of Sunday morning, parts of the Houston area reported more than 9 inches of rain. 

No deaths were reported from the most recent storm. One man who had been missing in San Antonio after authorities said he was swept into a flooded drainage ditch was found alive and was being treated at a hospital, fire department Chief Charles Hood said.

The storm was expected to move up toward Baton Rouge on Sunday afternoon, with 3 to 8 inches of additional rain possible in Louisiana through Sunday night, said Andy Tingler, a National Weather Service meteorologist in the state.

Rain has drenched Texas for the past two days. Navarro County, about 50 miles south of Dallas, was one of the hardest-hit areas. The tiny town of Powell got 20 inches of rain in 30 hours, said meteorologist Brett Rathbun of Accuweather.

A flash flood in Navarro County swept a Union Pacific freight train off the tracks on Saturday, pushing locomotives and some rail cars on their sides.

The rain systems were intensified by the remnants of Patricia, which was downgraded to a tropical depression after crashing into Mexico's west coast on Friday as a powerful hurricane.

Texas authorities are crediting lessons learned from deadly spring flooding for the low number of stranded drivers and high-water rescues following the drenching storms.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker had warned residents of the state's most populous metropolitan area with 6.1 million people to stay away from wet roads after dark and be aware of flash floods. And residents heeded the warnings, city emergency authorities said.

In contrast to the two dozen motorists stranded in this storm, the Memorial Day flooding left at least 2,500 abandoned vehicles.

Wire services