UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Widening evacuation warnings and high-water rescues in Texas mounted Wednesday under relentlessly heavy storms that turned roads into rivers, washed away vehicles and spun up a tornado across a busy interstate in San Antonio.
Texas Game Wardens have rescued over 40 people so far in the flooding, mostly in the Uvalde County area, according to a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesperson.
Forecasters warned that already dangerous
conditions were likely to worsen in some hard-hit communities. The deluge dumped nearly a foot of rain in some counties and put people in dozens of counties under flood watches, including parts of the Texas Hill Country where last summer’s devastating floods killed more than 100 people. Some of the flood watches were expected to remain in effect through Friday evening.
The National Weather Service said a tornado touched down in the northwestern part of San Antonio near Interstate 10. Videos posted on social media showed what appeared to be a small twister. Local officials said apartment buildings and other properties were damaged.
As much as 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain was possible in some places before the storms move out, the weather service said.
There have been no reports of deaths or injuries from the tornado or the flooding.
The highest rainfall totals so far — up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) — have been in Uvalde County, where officials tallied 25 rescues as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, and said more people needed help as river levels rose. Highways and roads were closed across the region because of high water.
The county normally gets about 23 inches (58 centimeters) of rain a year, according to the Uvalde County Extension Office.
The Uvalde Police Department said on Facebook at 1 p.m. that a dam in the northern part of the county was still intact, but the Leona River was still expected to rise another 15 feet (about 4.6 meters). Police warned people along the river to get to higher ground.
State Rep. Don McLaughlin said that despite a “little lull,” the rainfall wasn’t done and waterways could become more dangerous. “The rivers and the creeks are going to be coming up, and they’re going to be coming up again with a vengeance,” McLaughlin said.
Frances McNamara and her 10-year-old son, Everett, watched the bloated Leona River in Uvalde sweep southward Wednesday as she considered possible evacuation routes. She pointed to a solid line of dirt, branches and twigs about 8 feet (2 meters) above the river where the water reached the day before.
“We’ve seen the water rise, but not to this extent,” she said, describing how it rushed through a ditch next to her home with enough force to sound like a river on Tuesday.
This week's severe weather brought back memories of last year's deadly flooding in Texas Hill Country.
“It scared me,” said McNamara, her eyes wet with tears as she recalled the 2025 floods. “Cause I have a son, and to know what those parents went through.” Her son reached up and patted her back.
Uvalde police ordered mandatory evacuations for some parts, with first responders notifying people affected directly, the department said on Facebook. Others were asked to stay vigilant in case more evacuations are needed.
Some folks walked out of their homes onto the street to see the water growing closer every hour, their faces worried. People living along the river scrambled to pack cars and head out, though many did not yet know where they should go. One man threw two kayaks into his truck bed, just in case.
Bailey Luckman, 26, was getting ready to evacuate with her dog Wednesday afternoon. The floodwaters are close to her house, she said, and authorities recommended that she leave.
“I’m very worried about my things,” Luckman said.
She gestured to an inundated road nearby, saying she normally drives that route to get to the gym. It looked more like a river than a road.
“I’ve never seen it flow the way that it is right now, so that’s pretty terrifying,” Luckman said.
Lightning flashed as clouds darkened the landscape, and brown water created large rapids in the typically calm Leona River. The river was pushing up against the town's high bridge and into neighborhoods by Wednesday afternoon.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued disaster declarations for dozens of counties.
Authorities posted videos on Tuesday showing a rescue crew in a boat navigating flooded streets and a vehicle being swept away by fast-moving waters. Five people were rescued by the Texas Game Warden Search and Rescue Team and four were rescued by a local game warden, said Maggie Berger, a Texas Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman.
Forecasters warned that hilly terrain in other parts of the region could be especially vulnerable to heavy rain.
The highest level of concern for potentially dangerous flooding Wednesday was for areas west of San Antonio and north of Route 90, Weather service meteorologist Monte Oaks said.
In Boerne, a city of about 24,000 northwest of San Antonio, residents of several areas were told by officials to either evacuate voluntarily or prepare to shelter in place as waters rose. City spokesperson Chris Shadrock said in a video post on Facebook that high-water rescues were ongoing and that the city’s busiest intersection was “completely underwater.”
“This is a life-threatening weather event, I don’t want to mince words about how serious this situation is,” Shadrock said.
He said the water was rising even in areas that don’t usually flood.
First responders helped a woman escape after a car was swept off Boerne's River Road by the fast-rising Cibolo Creek.
People in about 20 vehicles were stranded in a nearby gas station parking lot when every surrounding street quickly flooded. Police officers blocked the exits to keep people from trying to ford the roads.
Kendall County is home to nearly 53,300 people, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. About 45% of them live in the southern portion of the county in Boerne, where the Cibolo Creek reached 22.47 feet (about 6.8 meters) as of 1 p.m. according to a USGS gauge, about 19 feet (about 5.8 meters) higher than just two days before.
Oaks said the rain is being fueled with tropical moisture, mostly from the Gulf of Mexico and some from the Pacific Ocean.
“This is called a typical midsummer tropical weather pattern that happens in Texas,” Oaks said. “About once every five years, we’ll get socked in with a daily recurrence of heavy rain chances that’s generally produced by a stagnant kind of a pattern with a low-pressure center that’s just not moving very fast.”
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Associated Press reporters Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Jamie Stengle in Dallas; Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and AP freelance photographer Darren Abate contributed.
