After severe rain and flooding, Dallas County declared a state of disaster on Monday afternoon.
The declaration lasts for seven days and activates the County’s emergency management plans, which direct local taxpayer funds to be released to assist North Texans affected by flooding.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins announced the status on social media and urged residents to report damages by submitting an online form via the Texas Division of Emergency Management website.
“Reporting damages to Emergency Management is a voluntary activity, is not a substitute for reporting damage to your insurance agency, and does not guarantee disaster relief assistance,” Jenkins added.
North Texas thunderstorms from Sunday to Monday brought the most rain the area has seen in over 100 years.
The National Weather Service station at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport reported that 9.19 inches of rain fell over the 24-hour period — the second-highest for any day in North Texas history, behind a September 1932 record of 9.57 inches. Just one day of rainfall made August 2022 the second wettest August recorded in DFW.
Initial estimates were that 15 inches of rain fell in East Dallas.
Emergency crews worked overnight across the DFW region, occupied with high water rescues. One person died during the flooding after her vehicle was swept away by floodwaters in Mesquite.
Last month, Balch Springs battled a grass fire. This week, emergency responders rescued people from flooded cars and homes across the region.
Balch Springs Fire Chief Eric Neal said, “The water has nowhere to go, and the creeks are starting to flood over some.”
Regarding affected citizens, he said, “We’re just having them hunker in place until we can get to them by boat.”
Neal said they did not yet have a count of the number of rescues performed in his city.
Dallas Fire-Rescue said on Monday that crews had responded to 225 high water incidents across the city since 6 p.m. Sunday.
