Heavy Rains Flood Houston, East Texas

Hundreds of people were rescued from floodwaters in Houston as heavy rain swamped a wide region from the city to rural East Texas. 

Channelview Fire Department and sheriffs get ready to help evacuate the area due to severe flooding, Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Channelview, Texas. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Game wardens rode airboats through waist-high water to save people and pets, while in Houston crews were plucking people off the rooftops of flooded homes. About 11 million people in Texas and Oklahoma are under flood warnings this weekend.

Cars are submerged and the tops of mailboxes are visible along a residential street in Woodloch, Texas, north of Houston, near The Woodlands, as floodwaters rise on May 3, 2024. KIRK SIDES/HOUSTON CHRONICLE VIA GETTY IMAGES

Between 12 to 20 inches of rain have fallen in the area in the past week, forcing evacuations. One Kingwood resident said water from the San Jacinto River had risen from a foot high in his backyard on Friday to four feet high on Saturday.