Flood — Cameron, Texas

2025-03-28 to 2025-03-30 · near Santa Maria, Cameron, Texas

Event narrative

The Texas Department of Transportation, along with Cameron County and local city emergency management between La Feria and Rio Hondo, and other law enforcement, and neighborhood groups reported a continuation of 2 to 3 feet of water depth (higher in a few locations) well into March 28th, with only a slow recession on the 29th and 30th before the water drained out for all but a few locations. Flood related impacts continued as follows:

*Much of the IH-2 frontage between La Feria and Harlingen, and the IH-69E frontage from the Willacy County line through San Benito, was under 2 to 3 feet of water.

*The Arroyo Colorado gauge in Harlingen recorded a record high level of 30.44 feet at 7 AM on March 28th. While some of the record water levels were due to slow flows due to a need for dredging of sediment and other debris, locations inside the levee saw water levels greater than those seen from all but Hurricane Beulah, and low water crossings in western Cameron County were under at least 2-3 feet of water depth.

*State and Farm-to-Market roads between Harlingen and Rio Hondo remained closed from at least 2 feet of water depth well into the 28th.

*Numerous homes, vehicles, and more remained under water in Palmview, Combes, Rio Hondo, Harlingen, and Primera. The community of Green Valley was especially hard hit.

*The duration of high water was partly driven by drainage backups and fill-ups in the Flood Control project of canals, ditches, and conveyance through-ways between Hidalgo, Cameron, and Willacy - with northern Cameron County communities bearing the brunt due to their location having the heaviest rainfall totals, which extended into southeast Hidalgo County.

Water finally drained out except for a few locations by March 30th. Final damage statistics will be included in the Flash Flood entry that includes the Harlingen/Rio Hondo/San Benito area.

Wider weather episode

Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms pummeled the Lower Rio Grande Valley, especially during the afternoon and overnight hours of March 27th into early on March 28th, resulting in historic seasonal rainfall and widespread flash and areal flooding across the RGV. Total rainfall ranged from 8 to nearly 19 inches based on trusted observations, with 10 inches or more falling across some of the highest populated locations from south McAllen through the south side of Interstate Highway 2 in Hidalgo County, then farther north in Cameron County, where 12 to nearly 19 inches fell between La Feria and Rio Hondo, including Harlingen and San Benito. Trusted radar estimates indicated up to 20.5 inches in east Harlingen, but as of this writing there were no verified values this high from trusted observers.

Initial rainfall began late on March 26th in eastern and southern Cameron County, with flooding in east Brownsville toward Port Isabel around sunrise on the 27th.

Nearly five thousand homes and other structures were impacted, with more than two thousand having major damage or destruction due to 2 or more feet of water in them. Hundreds of local roads were flooded with up to 4 feet of water in some places, and at least one thousand vehicles trapped on flooded roads were damaged or totaled. Unfortunately, there were fatalities, with five dead on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande due to drowning and a lightning-induced fire, and one on the Mexican side of the border in Reynosa.

In addition to the flooding, wind damage occurred in several locations, with two small tornadoes touching down during the late afternoon of the 27th near Edcouch, and just after midnight on the 28th in Port Isabel.

Though damage estimates were still unknown as of late May, it is estimated that total damage was upwards of $100 million. By early July, damage estimates had risen to $157 million; these numbers only included initial values of Public Assistance (PA) of $94 million, and $63 million in Individual Assistance in much of the Rio Grande Valley. These values did not include privately-insured damage, and totals were likely to exceed $200 million. Additional damage estimates will be available by the end of 2025.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (26.0799, -97.8543)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1250289. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.