Brooke Conley looks for personal items to salvage at her flooded wellness studio in the Fair Park section of Dallas, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022. Residents are cleaning up the day after heavy rains across the drought-stricken Dallas-Fort Worth area caused flash flooding.
LM Otero | AP
Residents in the area of Dallas, Texas are recovering from torrential rains and floodwaters that inundated entire neighborhoods and roads and prompted dozens of high-water rescues this week.
Photos and video footage show firefighters rescuing residents from flooded homes and people escaping and swimming away from inundated vehicles. At least one person is dead after floodwaters swept away their vehicle in east Dallas, authorities said.
More than 100 homes have been damaged after parts of the Dallas area saw more than 10 inches of rainfall on Monday. Flooding also caused sanitary sewers to overflow in several locations, the city said in a release on Monday.
The flooding in Texas this week is the latest extreme weather event to impact the U.S. Disasters like storms and flooding, wildfires and heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense as the climate changes. Scientists have warned that climate change fuels more brief and intense periods of rain.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday signed a disaster declaration for 23 counties to provide state resources for flood victims. He said the situation was Dallas’ second worst rainstorm and flooding event on record. The National Weather Service said that flood warnings in the Dallas area were in effect until at least Wednesday morning.
Abandoned cars on the flooded Interstate 635 in Mesquite
Stalled cars sit abandoned on the flooded Interstate 635 Service Road on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022, in Mesquite, Texas.
ElÃas Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via AP
Woman searches her flooded wellness studio in South Dallas
Brooke Conley looks for personal items to salvage from her flooded wellness studio in the Fair Park section of Dallas, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022. Residents are cleaning up the day after heavy rains across the drought-stricken Dallas-Fort Worth area caused flash flooding.Â
LM Otero | AP
Firefighters rescue family by boat in Balch Springs
Members of the Balch Springs Fire Department bring a family of four by boat to higher ground after rescuing them from their home along Forest Glen Lane in Balch Springs, Texas, Monday, Aug. 22, 2022.
ElÃas Valverde II | The Dallas Morning News via AP
Gov. Abbott signs state disaster declaration for 23 counties
Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, holds up a signed disaster declaration during a news conference in Dallas, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022.
Shelby Tauber | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Residents navigate floodwaters after heavy rain in Seagoville
Residents navigate floodwaters after heavy flooding in the Dallas metro area submerged roads and entire neighborhoods, in Seagoville, Texas, U.S., August 22, 2022, in this still image taken from video.
WFAA TV via ABC via Reuters
Trinity River flows through a flooded area in Dallas
The Trinity River flows through a flooded area in Dallas, Texas on Monday, August 22, 2022. (Emil Lippe for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Emil Lippe | The Washington Post | Getty Images
A car sits in floodwaters covering a closed highway in Dallas
A car sits in flood waters covering a closed highway in Dallas, Monday, Aug. 22, 2022.
LM Otero | AP