Story highlights
Midlothian police warn of "impending ... failure" of Padera Dam
At least 31 people are dead in Texas, Oklahoma and Mexico from the storm
13 missing include a mother and two children whose cabin was washed away
(CNN)Here we go again.
After days of deadly torrential rains and flooding, some Texas residents got hit by another round Wednesday, including a fresh barrage of intense precipitation in Houston and a new threat to a dam outside Dallas.
The endangered dam is in Midlothian, a city 25 miles southwest of Dallas. The Padera Dam there was holding Wednesday morning with water topping it, and Midlothian police said federal officials had warned of "an impending ... failure."
The dam, which was undergoing rehabilitation when the recent rains started, is holding back about 2,900 acre/feet of water (945 million gallons).
While thunderstorms are possible, they and accompanying heavy rains are more likely in Houston. That would be a big, dangerous headache for the country's fourth-largest city and the surrounding area, parts of which saw more than 11 inches of rain Monday and Tuesday.
The problem with more intense precipitation is twofold. When rain falls at a rate of an inch or so an hour, water pools in low-lying areas like underpasses and decreases visibility to next to nothing, making it hard to go anywhere or see dangers ahead. And when it comes on top of weeks of heavy rain, it swells ponds, rivers and bayous -- defining features in Houston -- and they can spill over into neighborhoods.
Abandoned vehicles litter a flooded Interstate 45 in Houston on Tuesday.
Abandoned vehicles litter a flooded Interstate 45 in Houston on Tuesday.
Many parts of Texas and neighboring Oklahoma have been getting heavy rain and river flooding for weeks, with the Memorial Day weekend especially perilous.
Water levels in lakes, rivers and streams generally were receding Wednesday, though more rain could reverse that trend. There's a chance of storms for at least the next six days in Houston. Areas farther north, including Dallas, are expected to get 2 to 4 inches between Wednesday and Sunday. And parts of eastern Oklahoma will get drenched with 4 to 6 inches of rain.
For Houston residents, heavy rain farther north could be as dangerous as whatever falls in the city.
"You think conditions are improving, but if it's raining hundreds of miles to the north, it could cause problems," CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri said.
11 still missing in Hays County, including family swept away
The wet weather has been deadly.
The bodies of 31 people who perished because of the recent storm system have been found, 13 of them in northern Mexico and the rest in Texas and Oklahoma.
Another 13 people remain missing, including 11 in Hays County, southwest of Austin.
Sisters on the phone when home washed away
Sisters on the phone when home washed away 03:50
They include three members of the McComb family, whose vacation cabin in Wimberley was uprooted and washed away overnight Saturday by the raging Blanco River.
Laura McComb called her sister, Julie Shields, a little after 1 a.m. to tell her that "the ceiling has caved in, and the house is floating down the river."
" 'Tell Mom and Dad that I love them. I love you, and pray,' " McComb said, her sister told CNN's Anderson Cooper.
Laura's husband, Jonathan McComb, was eventually found alive, with a collapsed lung and broken sternum. But his wife and children remain missing.
"We never lose hope," said Jonathan's father, Joe McComb. "But I think reality is setting in that there is probably a good chance that it might not be the outcome we're hoping for. But you never give up hope."
Houston: 'We have cars littered all over the city'
Three people are confirmed dead in Hays County, with four Texas counties -- Medina, Milam, Travis and Williamson -- reporting one death each.
Oklahoma had six deaths tied to the same storm system, including a firefighter in Claremore who was trying to perform a water rescue.
Houston authorities have reported at least five deaths after rains turned normally bustling highways into rivers and made abandoned cars look like toys in a bathtub. The rains and flooding severely damaged more than 4,000 properties, Mayor Annise Parker said.
Houston's mayor describes the devastation in the city
Houston's mayor describes the devastation in the city 01:39
"We've seen flooding before, but not nearly to this extreme," said Gage Mueller, who's lived in Houston for 40 years. "It rains and it rains and it rains, and there's really nowhere for the water to go. ... It's ridiculous."
An elderly couple is missing after the rescue boat they were on capsized during an attempt to save them in swift water.
The need for rescues was so great that Houston public works trucks were converted into temporary ambulances, responding to 911 calls and pulling out residents who couldn't escape their homes.
With any luck, more of the missing will be rescued.
"We have cars littered all over the city," Parker said, "and as the floodwaters go down, that's one of the things we're doing to make sure -- that no one was trapped in those vehicles."
Janie Bell helps her neighbors search for possessions after their vacation home was destroyed in a flash flood along the Blanco River in Wimberley on May 25.
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A shopping center is submerged in water in San Marcos, Texas, on Sunday, May 24.
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Heather Williams and Jayden Martinez Corpus assist the Villegas family in clearing flood-damaged furniture from their home in San Marcos on May 24.
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David Barry consoles his 5-year-old daughter, Marley, while she tries to sleep in a flood evacuee room created at the San Marcos Activity Center on May 24.
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Retha Norris, Ally Smith and Christina Norris, all seated in the canoe, are rescued by firefighters on May 24 after they clung to a tree in Kyle, Texas.
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A large tree rests on the Highway 12 bridge over the Blanco River in Wimberley on May 24.
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A grounds worker squeegees water off the course at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, during the final round of a PGA golf tournament on May 24.
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A cabin is damaged at the Rio Bonito Resort on the banks of the Blanco River in Wimberley on May 24.
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Police make an emergency rescue in Amarillo, Texas, on Saturday, May 23.
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Texas National Guard soldiers search for bodies on the banks of the Blanco River after the flood in Wimberley, Texas, on Tuesday, May 26. Record-setting rains and dangerous storms have been battering Texas and Oklahoma since Memorial Day weekend.
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Clothes and other flood relief supplies are gathered at Wimberley High School May 26 in Wimberley. Central Texas has been hit with severe weather, including catastrophic flooding and tornadoes over the past several days.
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Vehicles in Houston are stranded on Interstate 45 on May 26.
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Robert Briscoe removes a suitcase from his flooded car along I-45 in Houston on May 26.
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Nayeli Cervantes carries her friend's daughter through the flood waters outside their Houston apartment on May 26.
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Lucas Rivas looks into a flooded store in Austin, Texas, on Monday, May 25.
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Rescue personnel grab the the hand of a man stranded in rushing water in Austin, Texas, on May 25.
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The cement stilts of a family's home in Wimberley, Texas, are all that remain on May 25. The home was swept away by floodwaters a day earlier.
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Janie Bell helps her neighbors search for possessions after their vacation home was destroyed in a flash flood along the Blanco River in Wimberley on May 25.
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A shopping center is submerged in water in San Marcos, Texas, on Sunday, May 24.
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Heather Williams and Jayden Martinez Corpus assist the Villegas family in clearing flood-damaged furniture from their home in San Marcos on May 24.
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David Barry consoles his 5-year-old daughter, Marley, while she tries to sleep in a flood evacuee room created at the San Marcos Activity Center on May 24.
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Retha Norris, Ally Smith and Christina Norris, all seated in the canoe, are rescued by firefighters on May 24 after they clung to a tree in Kyle, Texas.
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A large tree rests on the Highway 12 bridge over the Blanco River in Wimberley on May 24.
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A grounds worker squeegees water off the course at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, during the final round of a PGA golf tournament on May 24.
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A cabin is damaged at the Rio Bonito Resort on the banks of the Blanco River in Wimberley on May 24.
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Police make an emergency rescue in Amarillo, Texas, on Saturday, May 23.
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Texas National Guard soldiers search for bodies on the banks of the Blanco River after the flood in Wimberley, Texas, on Tuesday, May 26. Record-setting rains and dangerous storms have been battering Texas and Oklahoma since Memorial Day weekend.
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Clothes and other flood relief supplies are gathered at Wimberley High School May 26 in Wimberley. Central Texas has been hit with severe weather, including catastrophic flooding and tornadoes over the past several days.
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Vehicles in Houston are stranded on Interstate 45 on May 26.
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Robert Briscoe removes a suitcase from his flooded car along I-45 in Houston on May 26.
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Nayeli Cervantes carries her friend's daughter through the flood waters outside their Houston apartment on May 26.
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Lucas Rivas looks into a flooded store in Austin, Texas, on Monday, May 25.
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Rescue personnel grab the the hand of a man stranded in rushing water in Austin, Texas, on May 25.
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The cement stilts of a family's home in Wimberley, Texas, are all that remain on May 25. The home was swept away by floodwaters a day earlier.
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Janie Bell helps her neighbors search for possessions after their vacation home was destroyed in a flash flood along the Blanco River in Wimberley on May 25.
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CNN's Dana Ford, AnneClaire Stapleton, Shawn Nottingham, Jennifer Gray and Ed Lavandera contributed to this report.
Heat wave kills more than 1,100 in India
By Harmeet Shah Singh and Rishabh Pratap, CNN
Updated 8:55 PM ET, Tue May 26, 2015
Story highlights
- More than 1,100 people have died in a weeklong heat wave in India
- Monsoon rains are forecast in a week, but there's little respite expected otherwise
Affected by the heat in India? Send us your experiences.
(CNN)Stifling heat has killed more than 1,100 people in India in less than one week.
The worst-hit area is the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, where authorities say 852 people have died in the heat wave. Another 266 have died in the neighboring state of Telangana.
India recorded its highest maximum temperature of 47 degrees Celsius -- 117 degrees Fahrenheit -- at Angul in the state of Odisha on Monday, according to B.P. Yadav, director of the India Meteorological Department.
Hot, dry conditions are being made worse by winds blowing in from Pakistan's Sindh province across the northern and central plains of India. "This extreme, dry heat is being blown into India by westerly winds," Yadav said.
The high temperatures are expected to continue for another two days before any respite, the meteorological department warned Tuesday. However, the agency said that another hot spell would likely soon follow.
Among the worst-hit states are Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the south. The northern states of Rajasthan and Haryana are also reeling from the intense summer as is India's capital, New Delhi, Yadav said.
Heat taking toll on the poor
Many of the dead are reported to be poorer people, beggars and the homeless as well as construction workers who are expected to work on building sites in direct sunlight.
About one-third of the country's 1.2 billion people have access to electricity, meaning millions are enduring the blistering heat without relief.
For those who do have electricity, power has dipped in and out as extra demand to run fans and air conditioning has put pressure on the system, said CNN Mumbai correspondent Mallika Kapur.
Many people without ways to cool their homes are seeking shelter in shops and malls -- anything to escape the heat, she said.
Rain forecast
Temperatures have been at a sustained high over the past few days, with little change even at night, and are expected to remain high for days, CNN meteorologist Tom Sater said.
India's monsoons will provide some relief, but the rains are projected to arrive in one more week. Once they hit India's southeastern coastline, they will likely take a few more weeks to reach the drier northern parts of the country.
State authorities have been advising people to stay indoors and drink water.
Experts say that hot conditions should not usually lead to this many fatalities. But many of the affected areas in India are humid, which worsens the level of stress caused by excessive heat.
Heat waves are not uncommon in India. Studies suggest they are likely to get more intense and more frequent.

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