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Louis Marquez carries Dallas, his dog, through floods.
Louis Marquez carries Dallas, his dog, after rescuing him from their flooded apartment in Houston this Tuesday. Photograph: David J Phillip/AP
Louis Marquez carries Dallas, his dog, after rescuing him from their flooded apartment in Houston this Tuesday. Photograph: David J Phillip/AP

Houston rains break wettest April day record

This article is more than 7 years old

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, was forced to declare a state of emergency in Houston on Monday as torrential rain during the day and on the previous night caused severe flooding and damage, leaving at least seven people dead, hundreds displaced and thousands without power.

Monday was the wettest April day on record at Bush intercontinental airport, with 252mm falling, leading to nearly 2,000 flights being cancelled or delayed. Not only did this surpass the previous record of 207mm in 1976, but it was almost three times the average for all of April. The highest rainfall total recorded was in Harris county where 447mm fell at Little Mound Creek.

The rain was caused by a slow moving cold front across southern Texas which triggered intense thunderstorms as warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico met cooler air from the north.

In South America a tornado ripped through the small city of Dolores, Uruguay, injuring more than 200 people and killing four. The city was declared an emergency zone as the tornado caused extensive damage damage; cars were thrown across streets, houses ripped out of the ground and power outages were widespread. Twisters of this severity are very rare in Uruguay.

Meanwhile, the tropical cyclone Fantala, creating sustained winds of 175mph, became the most powerful storm on record for the Indian Ocean. On Sunday night it moved across Farquhar in the Seychelles causing substantial damage to buildings but no injuries. The storm then tracked south-eastward. It will gradually weaken. But by tomorrow the forecast is for it steering north-west towards the north-east of Madagascar.

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