Parts of Texas and the Gulf Coast are facing the threat of major flooding this week after days of heavy rains fueled by a system that brought record amounts of moisture for June and could be the first tropical storm of the Atlantic season.
Flood watches for this dangerous situation have been issued for more than 20 million people from central Texas to central Mississippi. Brownsville, San Antonio and Houston, Texas. Lake Charles, Louisiana. Jackson, Mississippi is one of the cities where severe to life-threatening flash flooding is possible. There have already been reports of water rescues in parts of south-central Texas.
The Weather Prediction Center announced that parts of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi will be at Level 3 of 4 flash flood risk each day from Monday through Thursday. Since July 2025, this level of risk has not been announced anywhere in the United States for this consecutive period of time.
Rainfall totals across these regions this week could reach 5 to 10 inches, with locally higher amounts possible, the National Water Center said.
The National Water Center issued an important message this week regarding the threat of flash flooding in Texas and the Lower Mississippi River. Details: https://t.co/UZ3ekqUUkq #Flood #txwx pic.twitter.com/CPSGQUS1ut
— National Water Center (@nwsnwc) June 15, 2026
This flooding pattern is being driven in part by moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Christina, which emerged from the eastern Pacific Ocean last week.
If the system pushes into the northwest Gulf by late Tuesday or Wednesday, it has a moderate chance of becoming the first tropical cyclone or storm in the Atlantic Ocean this year, the National Hurricane Center said. If it reaches tropical storm status, it will be named Arthur.
The possibility of a short-lived Arthur means tropical storm watches and warnings could be in effect for the northwest Gulf Coast as early as Tuesday.
Even if this system remains over land or moves over water and does not become a tropical storm, the combination of its moisture and stationary front will result in heavy rainfall at a rate of 3 to 5 inches per hour at times through the middle of the week. Where such heavy rain continues for several hours, widespread flooding is likely.
Areas in the immediate vicinity of the coast may also be affected by strong winds and coastal flooding.
Water rescues and flooded roads have already been reported in Texas.
Heavy rains along a stationary front have already caused major flooding in south-central Texas.
Bandera County, Texas, is searching for the driver of a vehicle that was swept away by floodwaters early Monday morning, Bandera County Emergency Management Coordinator Judy Lefevers told CNN.
Lefevers noted that many intersections in the county are flooded and said crews rescued another person who was stranded in a car at a flooded intersection Monday morning.
In Travis County, a person stranded in a receding waterway was rescued on Monday, Andy Brown, the county’s emergency management director, told CNN. As of Monday morning, approximately 80 low-water crossings in Travis County were flooded, Brown said.
Responders also assisted stranded drivers at two different low-water crossings in neighboring Williamson County, county spokeswoman Connie Odom told CNN.
Multiple water rescues were also conducted in Bexar County Monday morning, according to Bexar County Fire Marshal and Emergency Management Coordinator Chris Lopez.
Multiple vehicles were stranded in water on a section of Interstate 35 in Waco, Texas, Sunday night, forcing rescues, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
“We’ve never seen flooding like this in Waco,” Texas Game Warden Capt. Matthew Keel told CNN, adding that rural areas in McLennan County, where Waco is located, and most low-water crossings in Milam, Williamson and Burleson counties were flooded.
Keel said Texas Game Warden had completed several water rescues throughout central Texas as of Monday morning.
The impact is likely to be similar or even worse this week.
Here are the locations where the greatest concerns for flooding are expected in the coming days:
• Through Monday night: Level 3/4 threat area includes south Texas to Houston, west and central Louisiana, and west-central Mississippi.
• Tuesday through Tuesday night: Areas of greatest flooding concern are from coastal Texas to southwestern Louisiana and small portions of central Mississippi. Localized flooding is possible as far east as south-central Alabama and west-central Georgia.
• Wednesday through Wednesday night: The most dangerous flooding is likely to occur along the north Texas coast, including Houston and Galveston, and southwestern Louisiana, especially in areas where rainfall has already soaked into the ground since early in the week.
• Thursday through Thursday night: Southeastern Texas, much of western and northern Louisiana, and central and central Mississippi are at the most significant flooding risk. As a new cold front pulls tropical moisture further north and east, localized flash flooding is possible east of the Tennessee and Ohio valleys and into the central Appalachians.
• Friday through Friday night: A cold front could cause isolated flash flooding across much of the South, but details are still unclear.
