McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Drenching rain along the Texas-Mexico border let up Friday, but rescues were still ongoing a day after severe storms trapped residents in their homes, forced drivers to abandon their vehicles on flooded roads and shut down an airport. At least three people died.
Hidalgo County officials said in a statement that they did not immediately have more information about the three deaths except that they involved law enforcement efforts.
Earlier in the day, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that at 10:15 a.m., Border Patrol agents tried to approach a vehicle suspected of taking part in immigrant smuggling that had stopped at a flooded roadway in Edcouch, located in Hidalgo County. The driver tried to cross the road and plunged into a canal.
Authorities said they recovered the body of one person who drowned, and another was missing. It was not immediately known if those were part of the three deaths reported by Hidalgo County.
In Harlingen, officials said their city received more than 21 inches (53 centimeters) of rain this week, with the heaviest rainfall on Thursday causing severe flooding that had authorities rescuing more than 200 residents, with another 200 people still waiting to be rescued.
“This of course has been a historic and challenging event for the city. But Harlingen is strong. We have faced adversity before and we will get through this together,” Mayor Norma Sepulveda said at a Friday afternoon news conference.
In Palm Valley, just west of Harlingen, married couple Jionni Ochoa, 46, and Pollyann Ochoa, 33, were still waiting to be rescued Friday, with the water inside their home still up to their knees as of the afternoon.
“The bed is the only thing dry right now, because the sofas are soaked. Everything is soaked,” Jionni Ochoa said.
The water started coming in around 8 p.m. Thursday, at one point pouring from the electrical sockets. The Ochoas turned off the power and tried to save as many things as they could.
“Things I stacked up, the rain, the water made it float, and it knocked it down. So everything got messed up, everything got ruined,” Jionni Ochoa said.
The two were also trying to find help transporting their beloved pet axolotl, a type of salamander that is native to Mexico and requires an aquarium with a specific water temperature.
In Alamo, the police and fire department responded to more than 100 water rescues, including people stranded in vehicles and trapped in homes, Fire Department Chief R.C. Flores said at a news conference.
Officials estimated that a couple hundred homes in Alamo flooded.
“I assure the public that we are assessing the situation on the hour, every hour,” Flores said. “We are going to continue to work as long as we need to.”
Weslaco Mayor Adrian Gonzalez said his city was inundated with about 14 inches (36 centimeters) of rain, prompting 30 to 40 vehicle and home rescues.
“It’s a historic rainstorm, and it’s affecting all the Valley, not just Weslaco,” Gonzalez told reporters at a news conference.
Television news images from flooded communities showed waterlogged cars abandoned on streets on Thursday and drivers waiting on sidewalks for the floodwaters to recede.
Between 6 inches (15 centimeters) and 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain fell in many parts of South Texas during a 24-hour period, according to the National Weather Service.
In neighboring Cameron County, officials asked Gov. Greg Abbott to declare a disaster for the county after more than 17 inches (43 centimeters) of rain caused significant flooding.
“The rainfall amounts we received have been record-setting, and not in a good way,” Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr., the county’s top elected official, said in a Facebook post.
Valley International Airport in Harlingen was closed Friday, and all flights were canceled.
“We are working tirelessly to reopen and focused on ensuring safety,” airport officials said in a statement.
More than 3,000 customers in several counties remained without power as of the afternoon, according to AEP Texas.
A flood warning was still in effect for portions of South Texas, including Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties, through the early afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
A middle school in Alamo was scheduled to remain open as a shelter for residents through Friday. One shelter opened in Weslaco, and officials in Harlingen opened the city’s convention center as a shelter.
More than 20 school districts and college campuses canceled classes.
Emma Alaniz was resigned to not being able to leave her home just north of Edinburg in a colonia, which is an unincorporated neighborhood usually located in a rural area of a county with underdeveloped infrastructure. She described her home as being on “an island.”
“For today, I won’t be able to go anywhere, because I don’t have a big vehicle. I have a small car, and I won’t be able to take it out to the flooded street,” Alaniz said.
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Associated Press writer Juan Lozano in Houston contributed.
Valerie Gonzalez And Juan A. Lozano, The Associated Press
