Trouble washing up in southern America

MCT Photo

Over the past few days, rain and tornados have been showing up in the southern United States, causing massive flooding. One of the most seriously hit towns was Wimberley, Texas. Over 2500 vehicles were abandoned over the past few days due to flooding.

Emilie King, Staff Writer

 

Thought the crazy weather was over after this winter? Fear not, the rain has come. Throughout May 23 through the 25, rain has been falling non stop and tornadoes have been showing up in the southern United States. Rivers have risen dozens of feet in just hours, forcing the waters onto the land.

“Record rainfall wreaked havoc across a swath of the U.S. Midwest on May 24, causing flash floods in normally dry riverbeds, spawning tornadoes and forcing at least 2,000 people to flee,” CBS News said in an article they posted on their website.

To give an easy ratio to show how much rain has fallen, Oklahoma City is one of the victim cities. Last year at this time in Oklahoma City, only 4.29 inches of rain had fallen. Now, there are 27.37 recorded inches. However there may be an upside to all the rain in Oklahoma City.

“This kind of sustained rainfall may end the prolonged drought that has gripped the region for years,” CBS said in their online article.

Though an upside in Oklahoma, other parts of the south are suffering harder loses.

“Several more fatalities were reported — four in Houston and one more in Central Texas. That brought to 14 the number of people killed by the holiday weekend storms in Texas and Oklahoma,” Yahoo News reported in an online article Wednesday May 27. Now the death toll has reached 35 people.

Other statistics reign to be higher than the death toll. More than 500 water rescues took place by state and government workers. It is thanks to them that the number of deaths is not higher.

One of the victims was 18 year old Alyssa Ramirez who lived in Devine, Texas.She was the home-coming queen at her high school and driving home from her senior prom, her car was stopped by flood waters in the streets.

“She did the right things. She called 911. She called her father, but it was just too much and too quick,” Roberta Ramirez, Ramirez’s aunt, told KABB-TV.

All night, small cars were swept away making them seem like pool toys. Big trucks were stopped mid-highway and rescue teams floated around on rafts and helped people out of their cars.

“You cannot candy coat it. It’s absolutely massive,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said after witnessing the ruins of the attacked towns.

Unfortunately, Ramirez was not one of the many people saved by the rescue teams, and on the early morning of Sunday May 24, she drowned in her car.