Deadly flooding hits Texas as potential tropical system supercharges rainfall across Gulf this week

Summary

• Nearly 18 million people from central Texas to central Mississippi are under flood watches as tropical moisture fuels dangerous rainfall.
• The Weather Prediction Center issued a Level 3 out of 4 flood threat for four consecutive days, a streak not seen since July 2025.
• A woman died Monday after her vehicle was swept up in floodwaters in Texas, and several water rescues were reported.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

Texas and parts of the Gulf Coast are facing a major flood threat this week from a multi-day heavy rainfall event supercharged by a system that could become the first tropical storm of the Atlantic season as it pulls in record amounts of moisture for June.

At least one person died Monday in flooding in Texas. Swift water rescue crews recovered the body of a woman whose vehicle was swept into a creek northwest of San Antonio early that morning, officials said.

Flood watches for the dangerous setup have been issued for nearly 18 million people from central Texas to central Mississippi. Brownsville, San Antonio and Houston, Texas; Lake Charles, Louisiana; and Jackson, Mississippi, are among the cities that could see significant to life-threatening flash floods. Some water rescues have already been reported in parts of Texas and Louisiana.

The Weather Prediction Center has issued a Level 3 out of 4 threat of flash flooding for each day this week through Thursday in parts of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. That risk level hasn’t been issued on that many consecutive days anywhere in the United States since July 2025.

Rainfall totals this week across these areas could be as much as 5 to 10 inches, with locally higher amounts possible, the National Water Center says.

The National Water Center has issued Key Messages for the Flash Flooding threat this week in Texas and the Lower Mississippi Valley. More info: https://t.co/UZ3ekqUUkq #flooding #txwx pic.twitter.com/CPSGQUS1ut

— National Water Center (@nwsnwc) June 15, 2026

The soaking pattern is being fueled in part by moisture from the remnants of last week’s Tropical Storm Cristina from the Eastern Pacific.

There is a medium chance this system could become the Atlantic’s first tropical depression or storm of the year if it pushes offshore into the northwest Gulf by late Tuesday or Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. It would be named Arthur if it does reach tropical storm strength.

The potential formation of a short-lived Arthur means tropical storm watches or warnings could be issued for the northwest Gulf Coast as soon as Tuesday.

Even if the system stays over land or moves over water and doesn’t become a tropical storm, its moisture in combination with a stalled front will cause heavy rain to fall at rates of 3 to 5 inches per hour at times through midweek. Any places where such intense rainfall persists for several hours could have widespread flooding impacts.

Areas on the immediate coast could also experience gusty winds and coastal flooding.

Drenching rains along the stalled front have already caused significant flooding in central and south-central Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott activated additional state emergency response resources Monday afternoon.

In Bandera County northwest of San Antonio, a woman was killed after her vehicle was swept into a flooded creek early Monday morning. The woman called 911 and said she was “floating downstream at a high rate of speed and unable to exit her vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. Authorities launched swift water rescue teams after losing contact with the woman. Her vehicle was found “several miles downstream from the initial entry point completely submerged,” the sheriff said.

Crews rescued another person Monday morning who was stranded in their vehicle at a low water crossing, Bandera County Emergency Management Coordinator Judy Lefevers told CNN, noting many crossings are flooded across the county.

In Houston, some drivers were up to their trailer hitches in lapping waters, while photos from Waco, Texas, showed roadways washed away by the storms.

One person was also rescued in Travis County after becoming stranded at a low water crossing Monday, Travis County Judge Andy Brown told CNN. About 80 low water crossings in Travis County were flooded as of Monday morning, Brown said.

Responders also assisted drivers stranded at two different low water crossings in neighboring Williamson County, county spokesperson Connie Odom told CNN.

Multiple water rescues were also carried out in Bexar County Monday morning, according to Bexar County Fire Marshal and Emergency Management Coordinator Chris Lopez.

In Waco, Texas, multiple vehicles were stranded in floodwater on parts of Interstate 35 on Sunday night, forcing rescues, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

“I have not seen flooding like that in Waco before,” Texas Game Warden Capt. Matthew Kiel told CNN, adding most low water crossings were flooded in rural areas of McLennan County, where Waco is located, as well as in Milam, Williamson and Burleson counties. The Texas Game Wardens had completed a handful of water rescues across central Texas as of Monday morning, Kiel said.

In Shreveport, Louisiana, floodwater stranded drivers and entered a few commercial buildings and at least one building at a technical college on Monday, Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Deputy John Lane told CNN. The sheriff’s office received 52 calls for water rescues in a roughly six-hour period, but Lane didn’t know how many of those calls ultimately required a rescue. No injuries were reported, he said.

Similar or worse impacts are likely to play out this week.

Here’s where the biggest flooding concerns are expected in the next few days:

• Tuesday to Tuesday night: Coastal Texas to southwest Louisiana and a small part of central Mississippi are in the area with the biggest flooding concerns. Localized flooding is possible as far east as central and southern Alabama and west-central Georgia.

• Wednesday to Wednesday night: The upper Texas coast, including Houston and Galveston, and southwest Louisiana, could see the most dangerous flooding, especially where rainfall has already saturated the ground from earlier in the week.

• Thursday to Thursday night: Extreme southeast Texas to much of western and northern Louisiana and west-central Mississippi have the most significant flood risk. Localized flash-flooding is possible as far east as the Tennessee and Ohio valleys and the central Appalachians as a new cold front pulls the tropical moisture farther north and eastward.

• Friday to Friday night: The cold front could cause isolated flash flooding in much of the South, but details are still uncertain.