While Tropical Storm Bill's winds began to weaken on Tuesday afternoon as it spun its way west-northwesterly over saturated soils near Matagorda, Texas, the risk of renewed flooding is growing for parts of the Lone Star State.
The storm follows on the heels of Texas' wettest month on record, with more than two-dozen deaths recorded during the floods of May into early June. The National Weather Service warned of widespread three-to-six inch rainfall amounts from Houston to College Station, northward to areas between Austin and southern parts of the Dallas metropolitan area through Wednesday at midday.
Some spots could see up to a foot of new rainfall, the Weather Service said.
Videos posted to Instagram and Twitter showed heavy rains and high winds causing waterlogged lawns, whipping trees and coastal flooding, with some beachfront businesses already under water.
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));Rawlings bait campPosted by Chrystal Folse on Tuesday, June 16, 2015
The storm registered maximum sustained winds of 50 mph as of 4 p.m. C.T., as it moved over land near Port Lavaca, Texas. Those winds are expected to continue to slow as the storm continues to move over land, though it may take longer to weaken than such storms typically do, due to the abundance of moisture already in the soils and waterways of east-central Texas.
Some computer model projections, in fact, show that the storm may retain some level of organization, and be capable of producing heavy rainfall, straight on through the weekend, when it will be near Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Now it's really starting to pick up. Bigger, rougher waves, stronger wind and rain. Still safe inside with amazing views. #galveston #tropicalstormbill A video posted by Jenny Couch (@thejourneywithjenny) on Jun 16, 2015 at 12:47pm PDT
Our team sent in a few more pictures of flooding in Galveston. #txwx #TropicalStormBill pic.twitter.com/IjcK8vssb1— TXGeneralLandOffice (@txglo) June 16, 2015
Due to strong onshore winds and the storm's low atmospheric pressure, water levels on Tuesday across coastal areas of southern Texas rose to between 1.5 and 3.0 feet above tidal predictions, the Weather Service reported.
Surfside Beach, TX 3:15pm 6/16/2015 #TropicalStormBill #abc13eyewitness A video posted by Jeffery Ortolon (@swankguy) on Jun 16, 2015 at 1:22pm PDT
Major flooding could occur along the Trinity River as it extends through East Texas, according to the weather service, with one portion northeast of Houston nearly 4 feet above flood stage Tuesday. The Guadalupe River north of Corpus Christi also is swollen as it ran more than 5 feet above flood stage.
In a tweet, the National Weather Service's Houston office warned residents to avoid driving through the floods.
"Several videos/pics of people driving into flooding today," it said. "Whether it's on the coast or in the city, don't drive across water covered roads!"
Several videos/pics of people driving into flooding today. Whether it's on the coast or in the city, don't drive across water covered roads!— NWSHouston (@NWSHouston) June 16, 2015
Because of the storm's relatively weak winds compared to other storms Texas has been through, many residents shrugged this one off. However, inland flooding is actually the second-biggest killer from landfalling tropical storms and hurricanes, behind the storm surge flooding at the coast.
"I'm not afraid; we've had so many storms," said Maria Cedillo, who stopped by fishing boats docked in Corpus Christi on Tuesday to buy crabs. "When there's a big one coming we move out. But this isn't one of them."