At least two people have died in Central Texas after torrential rain triggered dangerous flash flooding across the region, Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday.

A man died near Comfort, Texas, and another man died near Uvalde, Abbott said at a news conference. The governor urged people to stay away from floodwaters, which he said will continue to rise, and to seek high ground if they encountered a dangerous situation.

More than 230 water rescues have already been completed, Abbott said. People have been rescued from homes, submerged vehicles and vehicles that were swept off roadways, according to the Texas Game Wardens. 

Texas Game Wardens were seen in a video wading through waist-deep water to rescue a family, including a young child, as water quickly rose around their home.

“We have helicopters flying over, we have drones flying over, we’re looking at every square inch of the entire area for anybody who may be stranded anywhere, and there will be help coming very rapidly to whoever may be displaced wherever they are,” Abbott said.

Abbott said Texas has deployed approximately 2,350 emergency responders, including Texas Task Force teams, game wardens, troopers and out-of-state resources. Emergency assets include more than 85 boats, 21 aircraft and more than 200 high-water vehicles.

In Uvalde, police told people living close to the Leona River to move to higher ground because it overflowed and there was a threat of a 20-foot wall of water rushing into the city. Uvalde has received almost 22 inches of rain as of Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

In a statement, FEMA said it was deploying five search and rescue teams to Texas “to provide immediate, on-the-ground coordination and resource support.”

“Our hearts go out to the people of Texas as they endure the devastating impacts of recent severe storms, tornadoes, and catastrophic flash flooding,” a FEMA spokesperson said. “We know the immense toll these disasters take on families and neighborhoods. FEMA stands fully prepared and ready to support the state with any needs they may have.”

Flooding inundates communities in Texas

Some parts of Texas have received over 2 feet of rain since Monday, some of it coming down as fast as 3 inches an hour, washing over roads and covering cars.

“It was bad,” Ryan Whaley of Boerne, outside of San Antonio, said while standing next to floodwaters rushing down a street. “All this was under water, and that’s when the game wardens came in, they put their boats in, and they were going down the river, and all that stuff. It just rose really, really fast.”

Rescue workers pulled Robert Shelton and his family from their attic, the highest point they could reach, as their home in Kerrville, Texas, filled with water.

“The water got up to a foot of the attic,” Shelton told “CBS Evening News.” “I was scared the house was going to break apart.”  

In Ingram, Texas, flood alarms were installed after last year’s deadly flash floods started blaring as the river reached civilians. River Sentry co-founder Joe Swann told “CBS Evening News” the alarms have been in development since last summer.

“A couple people came up and met me on the front porch, and they started thanking me,” Swann said. “They’re like the flood towers; they woke us up. They got us out of there.” 

In July 2025, catastrophic flooding swept through Texas Hill Country, killing 137 people and leaving widespread destruction. The disaster remains the state’s second-deadliest flood on record, behind the 1921 Thrall flood, which claimed 215 lives.

Angie Nevarez told “CBS Evening News” that firefighters pounded on her door in the middle of the night to wake her and evacuate her.

“It doesn’t seem like there’s been as many deaths as there were last year,” Nevarez said. “I think we were more prepared in a way.” 

People told CBS News the Medina River is usually ankle-deep, but the river has risen amid the rainfall with creeks and springs feeding into it.

In one area, high water carried a group of deer down a flooded creek.

“I don’t want to mince words about how serious this situation is,” Chris Shadrock, director of communications and civic engagement for Boerne, said in a video posted to social media. “We are seeing flood conditions that we have not seen since 2015.”

The region could end up with half a year’s worth of rain in just days.

The same storm system spun up a tornado near San Antonio, causing power transformers to spark near a busy highway.

Powerful winds reached up to 100 mph, damaging businesses and ripping the roof off an apartment building.