The National Hurricane Center in Miami reported the development of a tropical depression. The system appeared just west of Florida’s Tampa Bay. The current forecast has the depression becoming a Tropical Storm by Monday and moving west across the Gulf of Mexico. The system may brush by Mobile Bay on Tuesday and Wednesday before making landfall on Texas by the end of the week. Even as a rainmaker, the system could complicate things for Uvalde, Texas where heavy rains have already prompted flooding near Camp Mystic where an Alabama girl drowned in 2025.
Earlier during the past week, the Associated Press reported how widening evacuation warnings and high-water rescues in Texas mounted over the past week 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 participated in rescues of more than 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. Apartment buildings and other properties were damaged, local officials said.
There have been no reports of deaths or injuries from the tornado or the flooding.
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.
As of Wednesday evening, just over six million Texas residents in 57 counties were under a National Weather Service flood watch that was scheduled to continue through early Thursday night. Watches for 34 of those counties were scheduled to expire Friday evening.
The highest rainfall totals so far — up to 16 inches — 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 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. 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 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.
