LANCASTER, Texas – At least two people died as thunderstorms spewed more than a foot of rain in parts of north Texas, flooding homes, knocking out power and washing out a bridge south of Dallas.
A man’s body and two vehicles were found late Thursday in a flooded creek downstream from a collapsed bridge in the Ellis County town of Ovilla. Fire and rescue crews continued searching the creek, and County Judge Chad Adams said they expected to find more dead.
Adams said the bridge was swept out as the severe storms moved through the Dallas-Fort Worth area early Thursday. Some parts of the region received more than 13 inches of rain from the storms that began Wednesday night.
In the south Dallas suburb of Lancaster, city officials declared a local disaster to help get state and federal relief after flooding damaged as many as 200 homes.
With creeks still swollen and soil soaked, residents across the region braced for the possibility of scattered showers.
In Dallas, at least one death was caused by the weather Wednesday night when a motorist in a pickup truck knocked over a utility pole. Live wires fell on the truck and electrocuted the man, authorities said.
An estimated 45,000 north Texas customers were without electricity at the peak of the storms, said utility spokeswoman Eliza Anderson, but most power had been restored by late Thursday.
Lancaster officials evacuated several neighborhoods and estimated there were about 20 high-water rescues, some by boat.
Lancaster’s police station flooded and a leaking roof collapsed the ceiling of the 911 call center. Calls were rerouted temporarily.
Jerry Johns, president of the Southwestern Insurance Information Service, said preliminary estimates for damages covered by homeowners policies totaled $17 million to $20 million in north Texas.
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