Three confirmed dead and more than a dozen missing as flooding hits Texas
Flash flooding from record rains in Texas and Oklahoma have left at least three people dead and more than a dozen missing.
The storm has also destroyed hundreds of homes, with more wild weather to come.
In the Texan city of San Marcos, residents were ordered to evacuate their homes in the early morning as flood waters rose around them after torrential rain turned normally bone-dry streets into rivers.
In surreal scenes, cars and trucks were submerged and people used inflatable lounge chairs to float down the street.
As many as 400 homes in the surrounding area had been destroyed, authorities said, and San Marcos opened temporary shelters to host residents who could not return home.
"Evacuation messages have gone out via reverse 911 and police officers and firefighters are going door-to-door to notify residents in affected areas," the city said in a statement.
It noted that the fast-rising Blanco River had broken record levels set in the 1920s.
Fire Marshal Ken Bell told CNN that at least one person was confirmed dead and crews were searching for three missing people.
A social media post showed a picture of a family of four with a plea for help in finding the missing mother and two children.
Heather Marks shared: "Please pray for the McCombs!! Jonathan McComb and his wife, Laura, and children, Andrew (6) and Leighton (4).
"They were staying at a house on the river in Wimberley this weekend and were swept away in the river flood. Jonathan was found 12 miles down river early this morning and is in ICU. Laura and the kids are missing still."
The family's dog Maggie has since been found.
At least two people also died in Oklahoma, to the north of Texas.
A firefighter in the town of Claremore died when he was swept into a storm drain while trying to help a resident in floodwaters, CNN said, and a woman in Tulsa died after her car hydroplaned.
The National Weather Service warned that strong to severe thunderstorms were expected across a large stretch of the central and southern plains toward the Mississippi River Valley.
"Isolated tornadoes, hail and damaging winds are all possible," it added.
