TX Crews Kept Busy by Heavy Downpours

Rain pummeled the Dallas-Fort Worth region Thursday morning and on the roads there were several crashes, water rescues and even the opening of a sinkhole, authorities said.

Patricia Sanchez, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, said the rain began falling around 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. and a band of isolated thunderstorms moved north over the region. Eastern parts of Tarrant County were seeing higher rainfall totals, according to the weather service, with automated rain gauges east of downtown Fort Worth indicating up to 3 inches had collected.

Fort Worth firefighters responded to around 50 crashes Thursday morning and 10 water-related calls, according to Mike Drivdahl, a fire department spokesman. MedStar responded to 23 crashes with injuries during the morning rush, and there was one incident with no injuries where a loaded school bus slid off the road and got stuck in the mud, a MedStar spokesman said.

Eastern Tarrant County was under a flash flood warning until 10 a.m. Thursday, though rain was expected to continue through much of the day, according to the weather service.

Around 11 a.m., Fort Worth police shared on Twitter there’s a sinkhole at 700 E. Rosedale St. under the South Freeway Overpass. The two inside lanes, police said, will be closed for days, possibly weeks.

Sanchez said there were a couple of spots in the area of Interstate 30 east of downtown with close to 4 inches of rain.

Anyone who encounters high water, she said, shouldn’t risk it.

“‘Turn around, don’t drown’ — that’s pretty much our motto,” she said.

Warm and wet conditions should last and the rain should stick around for most of the day Thursday, Sanchez said, but the worst of the rain was expected to occur in the morning.

Rain and storm chances will continue on Friday and early Saturday with another cold front. The threat of severe weather appears low, the weather service said.

North Texas should dry out over the weekend with sunny skies and expected highs in the 50s, according to the weather service.

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