Flash Flood — Harris, Texas

2009-04-28 · near Missouri City, Harris, Texas

Event narrative

A large, slow moving thunderstorm produced widespread heavy rainfall across western portions of Harris County during the early morning hours. Many roads including portions of US 59, Interstate 10 West, Beltway 8 West, and the 610 Loop were impassable for most of the morning rush hour, with numerous cars becoming stranded by high water. One fatality occurred when a vehicle was swept into the drainage system near the Katy Freeway (Interstate 10 W) and Beltway 8.

In addition to the major disruption to the morning commute, over 2,100 homes received some amount of water intrusion from this event. This ranks as the fourth largest number of homes flooded in a single event for Harris County.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms developed west of the Houston metro area in the mid afternoon hours of the 27th and moved east across the Houston area around sunset. Severe thunderstorms redeveloped overnight across western Harris County and produced flash flooding that severely impacted roads and highways in and around Houston. Later that afternoon a lone cell developed between Hearne and College Station and produced several brief tornado touchdowns as it moved southeastward into Madison County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (29.6308, -95.5206)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 166502. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.