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Rain continues walloping Texas; several have died in the floods

Posted at 12:58 PM, May 28, 2015
and last updated 2015-05-28 12:58:18-04

Texas has received more than 600 percent of its normal weekly rainfall in the last week. 

Thousands of homes have been damaged. As many as 15 people are dead.

"The amount of rain that normally falls in a month and a half fell over the course of a single week," said Storm Shield Weather Radio App Meteorologist Jason Meyers.

"At this point, the ground is saturated, and any more rain that falls has nowhere else to go but add to the runoff," Meyers said.

"Unfortunately, it's not going to dry out any time soon, either. Another one to nearly three inches of rain is expected across parts of Texas through the end of the week.

"Another round of rain is expected over the weekend, too," he said.

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With a few days left of rain still to come, this is the wettest month on record for Texas, according to the Associated Press.

The only upside to all of this, according to Meyers, is that drought conditions are either finally getting some relief or being eliminated. Last year, 90 percent of the state was in some form of drought — a quarter of it under severe drought.

"Now, less than a third is experiencing any kind of drought, and no one is under a severe drought," Meyers said.

"This soggy pattern is likely to last as long as the current El Niño remains in place, too.  That's because El Niños typically bring above-average rainfall across the southern half of the country.

"If this pattern lasts long enough — into the winter months — it could mean some significant relief for another drought stricken state, California."