LEILA FADEL, HOST:
At least two people have died, and hundreds have been rescued in catastrophic flooding in Texas this week.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
This is the second year in a row that Texas' Hill Country has flooded. Just over a year ago, 130 people died over the Fourth of July weekend, including children and counselors from a summer camp.
FADEL: Chelsey Zhu is a reporter with member station KUT in Austin, and she joins me now. Good morning, Chelsey.
CHELSEY ZHU, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: So tell us about what's been going on across the state.
ZHU: So the major flooding we've seen has been a culmination of several days of very heavy rain across large parts of Texas, especially the south-central region. Some storms have been slow-moving, dropping heavy rain in some of the same areas that have already seen a lot of rain in the days before, which has made flooding more likely. Some towns have seen as much as 20 inches of rain or more since the start of the week. The weather has also been unpredictable. There was even a tornado that touched down in San Antonio on Wednesday. Here's what Chief Nim Kidd with the Texas Division of Emergency Management had to say yesterday as the state prepared for another round of storms.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
NIM KIDD: The way that this weather pattern is setting up is difficult for the models that the meteorologists use to tell us exactly where it's going to fall and exactly how much is going to fall.
FADEL: Chelsey, there's been more rain this year than last year, but we have fortunately seen fewer deaths. What's different?
ZHU: It's hard to say for sure right now since we're still assessing the damage, but a few different things could contribute to that. One is, again, that it's been a full week of rain for some of these places that has built up to this severe flooding. So people have been able to see this develop over days. I also think people across the state are more aware of the risks after the deadly floods last year. People might be paying more attention to severe weather alerts when they're sent out and things like shelter-in-place or evacuation orders. And after last year, Texas lawmakers also made it a priority to pass flood safety measures, some of which are already in effect. That includes new flood warning sirens in the region and updated emergency plans for summer camps.
FADEL: What are the people in flooded areas saying about their experiences?
ZHU: Many of my colleagues went out yesterday talking to people during the flooding, and it was inevitable that last year's flooding was front and center in people's minds. Here's Claudio Castillo (ph). He says he's lived in the Hill Country for most of his life. In the tape, you can hear the Guadalupe River rushing in the background.
CLAUDIO CASTILLO: It's sad. It's just like a desert. It hits you. You know, it hits you pretty hard. Especially when you go right by Camp Mystic. You know, something happened pretty bad there.
ZHU: He's talking about the girls' summer camp where 25 campers and two counselors died in the flooding last year. He also mentioned that it feels like flooding has been happening more often, which is true at a broader level because of climate change, which scientists say has made record-breaking rain much more likely in the U.S. and has contributed to more frequent and severe flooding. That said, as we get to the end of the week, the National Weather Service is forecasting that the heavy rain will start to move out of these flooded areas. So we may be transitioning from search and rescue to recovery over the next couple of days.
FADEL: Chelsey Zhu is a reporter with member station KUT in Austin. Thank you, Chelsey.
ZHU: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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