Massive quantities of rain fell in the Dallas-Fort Worth region over the course of 18 hours due to a series of thunderstorms that pounded the area on Sunday night and Monday, leading to flooded streets, houses, and the forced evacuation of some drivers.
In certain locations, the rainfall has reached the threshold for a “once every 1,000 years” flood, which has a possibility of occurring once every 1,000 years, or 0.1% of the time. As the impacts of climate change intensify over the future decades, such occurrences may become more common. Warming temperatures, according to climate scientists, lead to more frequent occurrences of intense precipitation.
Dallas Water Utilities reports that 13–15 inches of rain fell in the last 24 hours in the city’s eastern part. There was 6-10 inches of rain throughout most of the Dallas-Fort Worth region.
Rescue operations have been launched due to the life-threatening flash floods. Since Sunday evening around 6 o’clock, the Dallas Fire Department has been called to hundreds of water-related situations, including automobile accidents. Authorities in Dallas have reported significant water levels on numerous roads and have advised locals to stay home.
The North Texas area is under a flood watch until Monday evening, while Central Texas is under a watch until Monday evening, 7 p.m. North Texas has seen the worst of the flooding, but the worst of the rain has moved south to Central Texas. As the storm system continues to advance, meteorologists predict further rainfall of almost 2 to 5 inches.
Severe thunderstorms are forecast to last throughout the week. It’s a dramatic change from a few days ago, when parts of the state hadn’t seen rain in weeks. For months, much of the state has been experiencing severe drought. Balch Springs is a neighbourhood of Dallas where a grass fire damaged nine homes only last month, and WFAA reports that properties there are already taking on water.
Extreme precipitation events can be greatly impacted by the rise in average temperatures brought about by climate change, as observed by climate scientists, who found that this increase in storm rainfall intensity can lead to catastrophic flooding.
Since 1960, the intensity of Texas’s rainfall has grown by around 7%. Even while precipitation totals in the Western half of the state have largely shown a flat or dropping trend over the past century, the danger of extreme precipitation events is growing across the state, according to a 2021 study by the state’s climatologist.
The analysis concluded that by 2036, Texas might see a 30% to 50% increase in high rainfall occurrences compared to 1950-1999.
According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment, scientists have also discovered that major flooding and heavy rain events follow droughts more frequently than they did in the past. Over the Southern Great Plains, which encompasses the states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, heavy rainfall is projected to increase both in frequency and intensity.
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Flooding hits Dallas-Fort Worth as some areas receive more than 13 inches of rain
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