The Latest on flooding: 3 die in Houston-area flooding

10:23 a.m. CDT

Houston Mayor Annise Parker says city officials will be vigilant as the area’s waterways swell with several inches of rain.

Parker said at a news conference on Tuesday morning that “we’re on the alert for folks in their houses as the bayous continue to rise.”

The National Weather Service says about 11 inches of rain fell in six hours in parts of southwest Houston.

Authorities say three people have died in Harris County, Texas — which includes Houston — and between 500 and 700 homes have sustained some level of damage.

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Cars sit in floodwaters along Interstate 45 after heavy overnight rain flooded parts of the highway in Houston, Tuesday, May 26, 2015. Several major highways in the Houston area are closed due to high water. | David J. Phillip / AP

10:15 a.m CDTAbout 11 inches of rain have fallen in parts of southwest Houston, leading to the widespread flooding.

National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Reilly said most of the 9 to 11 inches of rain came during a six-hour period, from 9 p.m. Monday to 3 a.m. Tuesday.

Reilly said the Houston suburbs of Richmond and Sugar Land also received about 11 inches of rain.

Authorities say three people have died in Harris County, Texas — which includes the city of Houston — and between 500 and 700 homes have sustained some level of damage.

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10:04 a.m. CDT

Authorities say three people have died in Harris County, Texas, due to flooding.

Houston Police Department spokesman Victor Senties confirmed two bodies were found in the city of Houston.

Harris County Flood Control District spokeswoman Kim Jackson says a third body was found in a vehicle on Interstate 45.

Jackson also says between 500 and 700 homes in Harris County have sustained some level of flood damage.

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9:55 a.m. CDT

The National Weather Service says a tornado with winds of 110 mph damaged several buildings in Kenner, Louisiana.

The tornado was part of a line of severe thunderstorms that moved across the state late Monday night and early Tuesday morning.

The weather service says the EF-1 tornado damaged the roofs of a performing arts center, a fire station and another business. No one was injured.

More than 7,000 Entergy customers were without power in the New Orleans area on Tuesday morning, and about 13,000 Southwestern Electric Power Company customers have no power in the Shreveport area.

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Motorists are stranded along I-45 along North Main in Houston after storms flooded the area, Tuesday, May 26, 2015. Overnight heavy rains caused flooding closing some portions of major highways in the Houston area. | Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle via AP

7:10 a.m. CDTHigh water and flooding made driving impossible for many travelers in the Houston area, even those on the city’s major highways.

The Houston Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1IXzG1X ) reports Tuesday morning that no injuries have been reported but that dozens of vehicles are stranded in high water throughout the city.

Houston METRO announced that the morning transit services were canceled. Harris County district courts canceled morning jury service. Storms also knocked out power in parts of the city.

About 20 school districts in the area were either closed or had delayed opening.

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7 a.m. CDT

After the Houston Rockets won Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, flooding in the area forced hundreds of fans and at least one player to remain at Toyota Center as the heavy rain continued to fall.

Arena officials posted an advisory on the stadium scoreboard advising fans to wait out the storm after the game ended around 11 p.m. Monday. Most left, but about 350 people stayed.

Center Dwight Howard told the Houston Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1cfWueQ ), that he didn’t “think it’s smart for anybody to try to be out on this weather.”

While fans waited into early Tuesday morning, crews did their usual post-event cleanup.

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5:55 a.m. CDT

Authorities are helping residents to evacuate their homes in a city near Austin, Texas, after a creek broke its banks and flooded the area.

A weekend of torrential rain and flooding has destroyed properties in the area and 12 people are missing after their vacation home was swept down a rain-swollen river and slammed into a bridge.

Austin County emergency crews have reported no injuries during early Tuesday evacuations from homes in Webberville, some 15 miles east of Austin.

Crews used boats and helicopters to rescue residents from their flooded homes. Authorities have not said how many people have been evacuated from homes in the area.

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4:30 a.m. CDT

Harris County Flood District has advised residents waking up for work and school Tuesday morning to not leave their homes.

KHOU-TV reports The National Weather Service has issued an emergency flash flood warning for southwest Harris County and northeast Fort Bend County. Harris County includes the city of Houston.

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2:30 a.m. CDT

Evacuations are underway in Austin, Texas, due to rising water that’s threatening homes.

The Austin American-Statesman reported early Tuesday that some houses in a neighborhood in eastern Travis County had flooded after the Deck Creek left its banks.

EMS spokesman Mike Benevides told the newspaper crews had used boats and helicopters to rescue some residents and were conducting a door-to-door search.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many rescues had been conducted. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The evacuations come after a long holiday weekend that saw severe weather that led to at least four deaths across the state.

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2:15 a.m. CDT

A flash flood warning is in effect for parts of southeast Texas as a severe storm brings heavy rain to the Houston area.

The National Weather Service reported between 6-10 inches of rain had fallen there Monday night.

Authorities urged residents to stay off the roads.

The Harris County Regional Joint Information Center said that two bayous and other waterways were out of their banks and numerous roadways were impassable. The center said reports indicated some homes may have taken on water.

CenterPoint Energy reported nearly 81,000 area customers were without power.

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2 a.m. CDT

Recovery teams are set to resume looking for the 12 members of two families who authorities say are missing after a rain-swollen river in Central Texas carried their vacation home off its foundation, slamming it into a bridge downstream.

Trey Hatt, a spokesman for the Hays County Emergency Operations Center, said Monday night that the “search component” of the mission was over, meaning no more survivors were expected to be found in the flood debris along the Blanco River.

But recovery efforts were to resume Tuesday morning, following a long holiday weekend of severe weather that led to four confirmed fatalities across the state.

Authorities were also searching for victims and assessing damage just across the Texas-Mexico border in Ciudad Acuna, where a tornado Monday killed 13 people and left at least five unaccounted for.