More heavy rain inundated east Texas and parts of Louisiana Friday as the remnants of the season's first tropical storm doubled back. The National Weather Service called it "the storm that refused to die."
Flooding kept 5,000 people out of their homes in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, and damage in Texas was estimated at $1 billion, the Red Cross said. Six deaths in Texas were blamed on the storm system, which hit land Monday."Now I know how Noah felt when he built the ark," said Jim Mitchum, emergency management coordinator for Liberty County between Houston and Beaumont where more than 2,500 people were surrounded or cut off Friday by the floodwaters of the rising Trinity River.
Liberty County was hard hit last month when heavy thunderstorms pounded the area and flooded many subdivisions.
Rain was falling Friday over extreme east Texas and the Texas coast and extended across northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas into northern Mississippi.
It was the seventh day of rain for Houston, where the Red Cross said at least 3,000 homes have flood damage. Forecasts called for up to 3 more inches.
The center of the storm system Friday was back near Houston and slowly drifting southwest.