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From: Steve Nelson (steve0707{at}yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Jun 14 2004 - 01:17:13 EDT
>From the Houston Chronicle:
A slow-moving storm produced heavy rains today
resulting in flight delays, power outages and major
flooding in downtown and midtown Houston.
Flooding also made portions of the Southwest Freeway
impassable.
The National Weather Service reported that between an
inch to nearly three inches of rain fell within Loop
610, stalling downtown traffic and bringing Metro Rail
to a halt for a half hour Sunday evening.
"The storms are moving so slow, at one point they were
stationery and drifting northwest, then stopped and
drifted south and turned and move southeast, going
back over areas that already had rain," said Kent
Prochazka, a meteorologist for the National Weather
Service in League City.
More weather headaches may be in store today as the
forecast calls for a 40 percent chance of rain.
Meanwhile, the weather service dispatched a
reconnaissance aircraft into the Gulf of Mexico to
monitor a disturbance that could develop into a
tropical depression.
The disturbance, located about 330 miles southeast of
Galveston late Sunday, was expected to produce heavy
rains in states along the Gulf coast from Louisiana to
Georgia.
At Bush Intercontinental Airport, an intense downpower
caused flight delays or forced cancellations for about
two hours. The heaviest rain, which made visibility
virtually impossible, came at about 5 p.m.
The airport recorded a record rainfall total Sunday of
3.58 inches.
"It was pouring down rain -- you couldn't see
anything. You couldn't see the runway," said Ernie
DeSoto, airport system spokesman.
About 900 Continental Airlines passengers were
expected to spend the night at a terminal because of
cancelled or delayed flights, DeSoto said.
At about 4 p.m., Bush Intercontinental Airport
officials issued a ground hold. Planes could be
boarded but none could take off or land during the
hold.
Some flights had to be diverted to other airports,
DeSoto said. The ground hold was lifted at about 6
p.m. and all flights were delayed from anywhere from
30 minutes to two hours. DeSoto did not have a tally
on the exact number of flights affected Sunday.
The rain also made it difficult for travel elsewhere
in Houston.
Stalled cars on light rail tracks led to a system
shutdown from about 6:30 to 7 p.m., said Ken
Connaughton, Metro spokesman. Trains were backed up
until traffic could be cleared. Houston police were
called to direct traffic to allow rail cars to pass
safely at intersections.
Late Sunday, street flooding had receded in most areas
and was only about ankle-deep.
Rainfall just south of the airport, near Greens Bayou,
was recorded there at 3.86 inches. Other portions of
the area received rain ranging from two to three
inches. Northwest Harris County recorded 3.78 inches.
Despite the sudden heavy rainfall, Houston Fire
Department personnel did not report any high-water
resumes. One call was made for a rescue at the
Southwest Freeway and Cavalcade, but rescuers found
the submerged car unoccupied, a fire spokesman said.
The rain may have caused a failure with a downtown
electrical substation which left about 200 customers
without power, including the Hyatt Hotel. About 6,700
customers were also in the dark elsewhere in the
Houston area, a CenterPoint spokeswoman said.
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
730 PM CDT SUN JUM 13 2004
...DAILY RAINFALL RECORD BROKEN AT HOUSTON
INTERCONTINENTAL
AIRPORT...
THE OLD RECORD FOR RAINFALL FOR THIS DATE AT
INTERCONTINENTAL
AIRPORT WAS 1.35 INCHES RECORDED IN 1945. SO FAR TODAY
THE AIRPORT
HAS RECEIVED AT LEAST 3.58 INCHES. THIS NEW RECORD
WILL NOT BECOME
THE OFFICIAL NEW RECORD UNTIL AFTER MIDNIGHT AND ALL
THE RAINFALL
HAS ENDED FOR TODAY.
$$
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