Woman dies in Texas floodwaters as storm threat expands across South

A deadly flash flood in Bandera County showed how quickly a regional storm system can turn local roads into traps. While more than 17 million people were under flood watch from Texas to Mississippi on Tuesday, a woman northwest of San Antonio called 911 to say her car was being swept into a creek. The call dropped moments later, and hours afterward rescuers found her dead in the vehicle several miles downstream.

The woman was not immediately identified. Her death came as flood watches stretched across a huge swath of the South, with CNN Newsource putting the number of people covered at nearly 18 million from central Texas to central Mississippi. The scale of the warning stood in sharp contrast to the way the fatality unfolded: a single roadway, a single creek, and a call for help that ended before it could be completed.

The National Weather Service said excessive rainfall could produce locally considerable flash flooding across South Texas, the western Gulf Coast and the lower Mississippi River Valley through Thursday, with 5 to 10 inches of rain expected in some areas. Forecasters also warned that rain could fall at rates of 3 to 5 inches per hour, a pace capable of overwhelming drainage systems and sending water across low-lying roads in minutes. CNN reported that the Weather Prediction Center had issued a Level 3 of 4 flash-flood threat for parts of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi on each day through Thursday, a streak it said had not happened anywhere in the United States since July 2025.

The danger was being fueled in part by moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Cristina in the eastern Pacific. The National Hurricane Center gave the developing system a 60% chance of becoming the Atlantic season’s first tropical depression or tropical storm, and if it strengthens it would be named Arthur. Gov. Greg Abbott activated additional state emergency response resources Monday afternoon, as his office said he authorized the use of available state assets to deal with the disaster conditions.

The flooding had already disrupted communities from Texas to Mississippi. Stalled vehicles were reported in San Antonio, Houston and Waco, while water rescues and water entering buildings were reported in Shreveport, Louisiana. Ramps to Interstate 10 and Interstate 110 were closed in St. Martin, Mississippi, and roads were impassable at Kessler Air Force Base. The same system is also setting up a separate severe-weather threat in the Midwest on Wednesday, with the potential for intense tornadoes, destructive winds and very large hail.