Heavy rains bring second round of floods to Starr County

ROMA - Angel Gomez got one extra day of summer vacation on Monday.

The 9-year-old boy was set to start the third grade, but heavy rainfall on already soaked ground rushed floodwaters into his family's home Sunday night - the second time in less than a week.

Gomez's mother, Nancy said she's seen nothing like it in the eight years they have lived in their home on Victoria Street.

"We are hoping we can rebuild," she said in Spanish.

The floods forced the Roma school district to cancel its first day of classes because many bus routes were flooded Monday morning, said district spokesman Ricardo Perez. Classes are expected to begin Tuesday.

National Weather Service radar estimates show that as much as 11 inches of rain have fallen on Roma since Thursday night.

But for Roma Police Chief Jose H. Garcia, the exact amount of rain that fell on the area does not seem to matter at this point.

"I lost count already," he said of the rainfall totals. "People are getting desperate and frustrated."

As many as 900 people - whose homes were already flooded Aug. 18 - faced a second round of rainfall when a heavy downpour began about 3 p.m. Sunday and continued overnight, said Gene Falcon, the emergency management coordinator in Starr County.

The heavy rains continued across the lower Rio Grande Valley into Monday morning, bringing widespread street flooding to Brownsville.

At least 50 remained at a shelter set up at the Roma Community Center early Monday evening, with more anticipated throughout the evening, Falcon said.

A path starting from the west side of Roma heading east toward Escobares was the worst affected with the latest rainfall, Falcon said.

And this time, he reckoned, the water does not seem to be falling as quickly as last week.

"We're trying to drain the water out in any way we can," Falcon said.

In addition to local equipment, five pumps were brought in from the cities of McAllen, Donna and Weslaco to help move the water from drowned neighborhoods as the sun peeked between the clouds Monday afternoon.

"I think people are scared and people are looking for refuge," Falcon said. "But the sun came out today - that's a sign of hope."

 Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.