海角大神

Flood-weary Texans were bracing for heavy rain and possible聽flooding聽Wednesday as tropical storm Bill was downgraded to a depression and continued to creep inland.

The center of the storm was expected to move northward just west of the Interstate 35 corridor, dropping 4 to 5 inches of rain on areas of Central聽Texas聽still cleaning up and recovering from Memorial Day weekend聽floods聽that left 14 dead and two missing along the Blanco River alone in Blanco and Hays counties.

The effects of the storm are being felt beyond聽Texas, as rain fell in Oklahoma and other states, including Missouri where a 60-year-old motorist died when floodwaters swept his car from the road.

The National Hurricane Center said the storm was moving north at about 13 mph and on Wednesday morning was moving into the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. Flash聽flood聽watches and warnings were in effect for the area, and Gov. Greg Abbott was expected to receive a briefing from state emergency officials Wednesday morning in Austin.

In North聽Texas, Dallas authorities were monitoring road conditions and Arlington residents were picking up sandbags being offered for free by city officials.

According to projections by the National Weather Service, average rainfall through noon Wednesday for portions of Texas聽will be 3 to 6 inches, but isolated areas could see up to 12 inches. Arkansas and Oklahoma could get up to 9 inches of rain in the coming days, and Missouri could get more than 7. After last month's historic rains and聽floods, the forecast was expected to complicate ongoing flood-containment efforts.

"We're more vulnerable to聽flooding聽right now than usual because we just got through the wettest month on record,"Texas聽state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said.

The Memorial Day weekend storms brought widespread聽flooding聽to Oklahoma and聽Texas, killing more than 30 people overall. At one point last month, 11 inches of rain fell in some parts of the Houston area, resulting in聽flooding聽that damaged thousands of homes and other structures and forced motorists to abandon at least 2,500 vehicles across Houston.

Rafael Lemaitre, spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said FEMA has paid nearly $38 million this year in聽Texas聽flood聽insurance claims, with the vast majority associated with last month's deluge.

Personnel from FEMA who were sent to聽Texas聽and Oklahoma after those storms were to remain in the region to help prepare for the tropical storm and help clean up in its aftermath, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday.

Major聽flooding聽could occur along the Trinity River as it extends through East聽Texas, according to the weather service, with one portion northeast of Houston nearly 4 feet above聽flood聽stage Tuesday. The Guadalupe River north of Corpus Christi also was swollen as it ran more than 5 feet above聽flood聽stage.

Twisters were also a possibility Wednesday, with 21 counties in the eastern half of the state under a tornado watch until 7 a.m.

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Warren reported from Dallas. Associated Press writers Betsy Blaney in Lubbock,聽Texas, and Darlene Superville in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

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