Heavy rains in Houston lead to closing of schools, power outages and rescues

Heavy rains in Houston lead to closing of schools, power outages and rescues

 "It's perfect conditions for flash floods," Houston's fire chief said as rain pounds the Houston area.

Heavy rains in Houston lead to closing of schools, power outages and rescues

Heavy rains in Houston lead to closing of schools, power outages and rescues

 May 10, 2019, 11:03 AM GMT+2 / Updated May 10, 2019, 2:20 PM GMT+2

Schools shut down Friday in the Houston area after an overnight storm dumped heavy rainfall on the flood-prone city, though forecasters said the high waters were expected to recede as the storms let up.

The storms pelted the Houston area with golf-ball sized hail and flooded its streets, leading to several high-water rescues. Although the dome was up at Minute Maid Park, some fans at the Houston Astros' Thursday night game were drenched after the roof began leaking.

A flood warning was in effect for Houston through mid-morning Friday. In parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, forecasters warned that scattered flash flooding was possible as the storm heads to the east.

Houston has repeatedly faced flooding in recent years because the city has insufficient drainage and experienced rapid development that reduced wetlands.

On Thursday, one person was rescued from a submerged car and other motorists were stranded from flooding.

The Houston Fire Department tweeted about 1 a.m. Friday that first-responders rescued a commuter from a vehicle that was upside-down and submerged in a flooded ditch. The occupant was found trapped but alive, officials said.

The National Weather Service said some areas received as much as 3 inches of rain an hour late Thursday, the Associated Press reported. The Barker Dam area near Houston received nearly 6 inches of rain Thursday evening, the weather service said.

No deaths had been reported early Friday in Houston, but Fire Chief Samuel Peña said in a video posted to social media that water was over roads and "there’s going to be evacuations” due to stranded vehicles, but they were not being considered rescues.

He said late Thursday that more than 75 water-related calls had been recorded.