Heavy rains and hail battered the southern Plains early Thursday, taunting Texas with more flooding problems as thunderstorms soaked Arkansas and Louisiana, and floodwaters washed through storm-ravaged southern Ohio.
The National Weather Service said rain flooded roads and bridges south of Dallas early Thursday, while several tornadoes accompanied by large hail and heavy rain caused light damage in northeast Texas late Wednesday."We have some bridges that've gone under," Inetta Flanner of the Johnson County Sheriff's office said Thursday. A vehicle was partially submerged in the northeast Texas town of Venus, but the driver escaped, Flanner said.
A flash flood warning was posted Thursday in Ellis County, south of Dallas, where nearly all roads in the community of Red Oak were covered with water.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms were reported in northeast Texas and parts of Arkansas and Louisiana Thursday, some producing up to 5 inches of rain. The driving rains caused flash flooding near New Orleans.
In the Midwest, meanwhile, Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste declared a state of emergency in four southeast counties Wednesday and said he would ask Washington for a federal disaster declaration because of extensive flooding.
It covered Perry, Hocking, Athens and Lawrence counties, where 1,000 people have fled their homes.