(CNN) — Abandoned vehicles littered submerged roads across South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley Thursday and Friday after over half year’s worth of rain forced dozens of water rescues near the US-Mexico border.
Intense thunderstorms on top of heavy rain since Wednesday dumped more than a foot of rain on the region and triggered rare flash flood emergencies and flooding that began on Thursday afternoon.
Hidalgo and Cameron counties – both located along the border with Mexico – bore the brunt of the heavy storms pounding South Texas for 48 hours and counting.
Four flash flood emergencies – the most serious flash flood warning – were issued Thursday night into early Friday morning in those counties as the National Weather Service warned of life-threatening flash flooding.
Fire officials from the city of Alamo in Hidalgo County confirmed at least 50 water rescues on Thursday, CNN affiliate KRGV reported.
Alamo Fire Chief RC Flores told KRGV at one point, an emergency vehicle was unable to rescue a pregnant woman having contractions near a Walmart but a fire truck eventually made it through the floodwaters.
Water rescues were also performed in neighboring Cameron County, according to the National Weather Service, which urged people to seek higher ground as the life-threatening flash floods hit.
South Texas Health System’s hospital in McAllen, Texas, experienced minor flooding Thursday afternoon on the facility’s first floor from issues with the stormwater drain, according to a hospital spokesperson.
A video circulating on social media showed a forceful stream of water bursting a wall open at the hospital, with water reaching ankle height flowing through a corridor.
The hospital briefly diverted walk-in and ambulance patients to other nearby hospitals and paused visitation hours, it said in a Thursday evening update on Instagram. The hospital was reopening to visitors on Friday, though some parts of the first floor could be “restricted” because of the damage.
Flooding didn’t recede as quickly in other parts of Hidalgo County. Portions of Interstate 2 in the county were underwater and abandoned vehicles lined the roadway early Friday morning.
More than a foot of rain fell from Wednesday afternoon to Friday morning in the Rio Grande Valley.
Just over a half year’s worth of rain – 14 inches – fell in Harlingen, Texas, in less than 48 hours. Port Isabel, Texas, also recorded half a year’s worth of rain after 13 inches fell in the same timeframe.
Some thunderstorms turned severe and unleashed damaging winds as the rain came gushing down Thursday. At least one thunderstorm also produced a brief tornado in Hidalgo County Thursday afternoon.
Rain continued in the waterlogged area early Friday morning but will come to an end by the afternoon and shift north into eastern Texas and Louisiana.
Flood risks won’t end once the rain stops. Swollen rivers could breach their banks in the coming days as floodwater filters back into area waterways.
“Stay away or be swept away,” the weather service warned. “River banks and culverts can become unstable and unsafe.”
The weather service also cautioned against entering flooded roads. “Most flood deaths occur in vehicles,” it noted.
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