Willa's Last Gasp Causes Flooding In Texas Gulf Coast Communities

GALVESTON, TX — The remnants of Hurricane Willa dumped more than six inches of rain late Wednesday, causing flash flooding in several gulf coast communities.

Hurricane Willa, a category 3 storm, made landfall on Tuesday near Isla del Bosque on Mexico’s west coast, packing winds of about 120 miles per hour. However, it was the rain that had some Texas communities concerned, especially communities that dealt with already swollen rivers and lakes in the Texas Hill Country less than two weeks earlier.

Much of the rain stayed well south of those areas impacting the gulf coast region more than any other. Officials in the coastal communities of Dickinson and Santa Fe reported heavy street flooding. Some areas reporting as much as nine inches of rain, and in some of those areas, the streets looked streams.

One Santa Fe resident was seen bailing water out of her home with a three-gallon bucket, while on the next street over, another family watched cautiously and hoped the water wouldn’t rise as high.

Many of these same residents are still recovering from Hurricane Harvey, more than a year after it made landfall. The area remained under a flash flood watch through the early morning hours as the rain began moving out of the area.

The clouds will give way this weekend to mild temperatures, with the next front expected the day before Halloween.

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