A Flood Watch covers Fort Bend County, including Missouri City and Stafford, through 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, after storms shifted east of their original forecast track.
The City of Stafford said on X on Thursday, Oct. 1, that thunderstorms were tracking farther east than originally expected, pushing heavy rainfall and flash-flooding risk closer to the Houston metro area and Stafford.
KHOU 11 reported the watch covers Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Walker, Grimes, Waller, Wharton and Jackson counties. Missouri City was explicitly listed among the affected cities.
What to expect
The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that a slow-moving line of storms was advancing east across North and Central Texas, expected to reach Southeast Texas late Thursday afternoon or evening. Through Friday afternoon, the area could see a half-inch to 2 inches of rain, with stronger storms capable of dropping 2 to 3 inches in a short period.
The National Weather Service's Houston/Galveston office warned that rainfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour were possible in the heaviest storms. The NWS forecast noted the greatest flooding risk through Friday remained over far western counties, including the Brazos Valley.
Heavier downpours could cause localized street flooding, especially in areas with poor drainage, according to the Houston Chronicle. Creeks and bayous were not expected to overflow.
Weekend outlook
The NWS said the heavy-rainfall threat would shift south and east over the weekend as a weak cold front moves across the region. A second round of rain was possible along the Gulf Coast late Saturday into Sunday, with areas south of Interstate 10 potentially receiving another inch or two, the Houston Chronicle reported.
A cold front was expected to push through Southeast Texas around Monday, Oct. 5, or Tuesday, Oct. 6, bringing drier air.
State and utility response
Gov. Greg Abbott activated additional state emergency resources on Tuesday, Sept. 29, directing the State Operations Center to run around the clock. More than 1,900 state responders and over 1,500 pieces of equipment were made available, including swiftwater rescue boats, Texas National Guard personnel and Blackhawk helicopters, according to KHOU.
CenterPoint Energy said its crews were inspecting critical equipment, scheduling additional workers and positioning gear to restore power quickly if outages occur, the Houston Chronicle reported. Jason Fabre, CenterPoint's vice president of distribution and special response, said the utility was "taking actions now to support our customers ahead of forecasted heavy rainfall."
Residents can monitor conditions through the National Weather Service at weather.gov/hgx.
