HOUSTON (Reuters) - Torrential
rainstorms battered Louisiana on Sunday, leaving thousands without
power, after pounding southeastern Texas as the remnants of Hurricane
Patricia converged with a second storm.
The
heaviest band of rain moved over the Gulf of Mexico, triggering coastal
flood warnings and flash flood watches in southwest Louisiana and
soaking New Orleans, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
About
22,000 people were left without power in the greater New Orleans area.
Some streets were flooded, while a high tide surge brought some coastal
flooding as well.
Rainfall has
totaled as much as 7 inches (18 cm) since late Saturday night, and
forecasters predicted another 5 inches (13 cm) could fall. The NWS said
waterspouts over lakes and tornados over land were both possible into
the early morning hours.
"Most
of the heavier rain to the west of New Orleans will taper off in the
evening ... and for far eastern Louisiana it will probably end closer to
midnight," said NWS forecaster Gavin Phillips.
The NWS issued a tornado
watch for southeastern Louisiana and coastal Mississippi into early
Monday, and warned that severe thunderstorms could develop in the
region.
A tornado touched down near the community of Larose, about
45 minutes south of New Orleans, though no serious damage was reported.Tides along the southern coast of Louisiana were expected to be a few feet above normal at high tide due to sustained winds, likely flooding roads in lower-lying areas, Phillips said.
More
than 9 inches (23 cm) of rain swelled rivers and flooded roads around
Houston, but no injuries or deaths were reported as flash flood warnings
ended.
Petroleum refineries
along the U.S. Gulf Coast, which make up more than 40 percent of U.S.
capacity, also appeared to be largely undamaged.
In the Eagle Ford and
Permian Basin oil fields of south and west Texas, no major production
cuts were reported. While the rains were heavy in Houston, they came
after a month-long dry spell so flooding was relatively limited.
TEXAS WITHSTANDS PUMMELING
The
storms over the past two days drenched a large swath from south of
Dallas to the southeast coast, triggering flash flooding in Navarro
County, about 50 miles (80 km) south of Dallas, on Saturday.
A
Union Pacific freight train carrying cement derailed in Navarro County
after a creek overflowed, washing out the tracks. Locomotives and rail
cars were pushed on their sides, and a two-person crew was forced to
swim to safety.Repair teams cleared the derailed cars by Sunday morning, but they were not expected to be righted for several hours and the rail line was not due to reopen until Monday at the earliest, Union Pacific spokesman Jeff DeGraff said.
Navarro County Sheriff Elmer Tanner reported dozens of rescues from vehicles, homes and businesses since Friday.
In San Antonio, a woman reported her boyfriend was swept into a drainage ditch as he walked his dog early Saturday.
The
force of the water washed him out of the underground ditch and he
passed out, the San Antonio Fire Department said on Twitter. He later
came to and called authorities.
The
rain was strengthened 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.
(Additional
reporting by Kathy Finn in New Orleans, Terry Wade in Houston, Lisa
Maria Garza in Dallas, Jim Forsyth in San Antonio, Karen Brooks in
Austin and Alex Dobuzinskis, Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Curtis
Skinner in San Francisco; Writing by David Bailey; Editing by Jeffrey
Benkoe and Clarence Fernandez)
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