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Texas flooding: From no water to way too much

Posted at 11:54 AM, May 27, 2015
and last updated 2015-05-27 11:54:58-04

The eastern half of Texas is practically under water, and more than a dozen people have died from the flooding.

In the last week, some parts of Texas have received 600 percent of their normal weekly rainfall. That means the amount of rain that normally falls in a month and a half fell over the course of a single week!

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

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.

The only upside to all of this 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.

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.