Starr County, Texas

The Roma Fire Department reported that Arroyo Roma exceeded its banks, flooding parts of town with 1 to 3 feet of standing and flowing water during the pre-dawn hours of June 21st, 2018. The flooding was associated with the initiation of a thunderstorm system that would later cause significant flooding in western Hidalgo County, including the McAllen/Mission metropolitan region during the daylight hours later that morning. Measured and estimated rainfall was between 3 and 7 inches across southern and central Starr County. Estimated public damage, along with a standard doubling, left nearly $3 million in property and other damage (estimated).

Though the rains tapered off shortly after noon, and sunshine peeked through the clouds during later in the day, floodwaters continued to cover much of Roma, but particularly Escobares and Garceno, as Arroyo Quiote continued to rise and remain in flood for several hours after the rains ended. Farm-to-Market Road 650 was closed due to the high water covering the roadway, and numerous local roads and some major thoroughfares were closed due to flooding. ||Federal Highway 83, the primary east-west highway connecting the Upper Rio Grande Valley with the Lower Rio Grande Valley, was closed with up to three feet of water covering portions of the highway into the evening of the 18th. Total structural damage and repair costs were estimated to be in excess of one million dollars from the entire flood episode. At the peak of the flash flooding and areal flooding, an estimated 500 water rescues were undertaken by emergency management personnel.

Slow moving thunderstorm clusters dumped torrential rains over and near Rio Grande City during the early to mid evening of May 4th, with storm totals likely between 4 and 5 inches across the area. A combination of reports from law enforcement, emergency management, and social media indicated dangerous flooding in parts of the city, with several water rescues and minor flooding reaching into several homes on the east side of town. Social media photos and discussion reported a yard with 1 to 2 feet of water flowing through it at around 8 PM CST; water rescues from stranded vehicles were reported along US 83 on the east side of town at around 8:55 PM CST, and another vehicle was reported stranded in floodwaters at the intersection of Flores and Monroe Street, also on the east side of town. The NWS cooperative observer reported 4.28 inches with the event, most falling within two to three hours.