HURRICANE PATRICIA TO ENHANCE LIFE THREATENING FLOOD RISK IN TEXAS AND LOUISIANA 
Moisture from record-breaking Hurricane Patricia will eventually contribute to the life-threatening flooding that the South Central states are bracing for into this weekend.
People in the South Central states should monitor the weather situation for flooding through this weekend, regardless of how dry the landscape has been. The hard, dry ground will cause a significant amount of the rain to run off.
Parts of western Texas, including around Midland and Rio Hondo, were the first communities in the state to endure flooding on Thursday. Law enforcement reported that approximately four high water rescues were performed in Midland.
Additional, potentially more severe, flooding will unfold farther east into this weekend. The rest of Texas and Louisiana will also be at the receiving end of a fire hose of tropical moisture.
Rainfall amounts between 4-8 inches will crawl to the south and east through portions of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. There is the potential for some communities to be hit with a foot or more of rain through Sunday. Much of the rain may fall in a single day or perhaps in a matter of hours.
The flooding will become far-reaching and affect the major cities of Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Brownsville, Texas, and Shreveport and Lake Charles, Louisiana.
In portions of Texas and Louisiana, the situation could turn out similar to flooding this past May in the same areas. However, it is less possible the situation will become as extreme as the South Carolina flooding from early October.
Areas that are likely to first experience flash flooding will be low water crossings, small streams and mainly secondary roads.
As the rainfall further intensifies, the risk of flooding will expand to urban areas, major highways and larger rivers into this weekend. In some communities, the flooding could become severe enough to force evacuations.
The main cause of the heavy rain and the flood risk will be tropical moisture from multiple sources converging on the South Central states.
With moisture from the Gulf of Mexico already in play, moisture from Major Hurricane Patricia will arrive this weekend and further enhance the torrential rainfall.
Patricia rapidly intensified into the strongest hurricane on record early Friday morning and will barrel into southwestern Mexico Friday evening with catastrophic force.
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The mountainous terrain of Mexico will quickly cause Patricia to weaken, but it will still approach Texas as a tropical rainstorm this weekend and will help another storm form near the Texas coast.
There is a chance that the new system could develop tropically, according to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski.
"Winds created by the developing storm system could reach gale force during Sunday and Sunday night along the Texas and Louisiana coasts," he said. "This will also bring coastal flooding due to onshore flow, especially during high tide."
Regardless of tropical development or not, it will prolong the rainfall along the Texas coast and into Louisiana.
"We saw what happened in the spring time and it could certainly be a repeat performance," Kottlowski said.
Drenching rainfall is likely to shift eastward and northward over the lower Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio valleys during the middle part of next week.
At the very least, travel disruptions are likely due to poor visibility and heavy rainfall. Lengthy airline delays are possible. Some roads may close. Motorists will need to reduce their speed to lower the risk of hydroplaning.
Never attempt to drive through a flooded roadway. Doing so puts not only you and your occupants at risk for drowning, but also your would-be rescuers.
The current could be strong enough to sweep your vehicle downstream into deeper water as 1-2 feet of water is enough to cause most vehicles to lose control. The water level may rapidly rise across roadways, which may be compromised below the surface.
Parents are urged to keep their kids away from stream banks and culverts. The bank of a stream can give way, and rapidly rising water can sweep away onlookers.
Content contributed by AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/flooding-tropical-downpours-patricia-texas-oklahoma-central-us/53098639
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