Storms kill seven in Texas, Oklahoma as rain soaks South

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Rescue workers searched on Tuesday for 12 people missing in Texas after torrential rains slammed the state and Oklahoma during the Memorial Day weekend, killing seven people and causing floods that destroyed homes and swept away bridges.

More bad weather was expected with the National Weather Service issuing a flash flood warning on Tuesday morning for Houston, the nation's fourth most-populous city, as a line of thunderstorms moved along the Gulf of Mexico coast from Texas toward Florida.

Five people were killed in Texas on Monday and two in Oklahoma, where thunderstorms and tornadoes slammed several parts of the state.

Rescue workers looked for 12 members of two families missing after their vacation home was swept off its foundation in Wimberley, a town about 30 miles southwest of Austin, where flood waters caused a wave of destruction.

"It's a tremendous clean up operation," said Wimberley Mayor Steve Thurber. "(People) have lost their homes, they have lost their livelihoods in some businesses."

Nearly 40 flights were canceled as of 9 a.m. CDT at airports in Houston and Dallas, some of the nation's busiest, as blocked roads made it difficult for workers to get to their jobs. A sinkhole also closed a runway at the Dallas/Fort Worth International airport, according to media reports.

About 100,000 customers were without power throughout the state due to high winds and rising waters that caused power poles to snap.

In Houston, some school districts closed for the day and municipal courts suspended cases due to the storms. Flooding Monday night forced many of the people who attended the Houston Rockets' NBA playoff game to stay at the Toyota Center arena because they could not get home.

"I don't think it's smart for anybody to try to be out on this weather," Rockets center Dwight Howard, who was among those waiting out the storm with fans, was quoted as saying by the Houston Chronicle.

Rainfall tallied as much as 7 inches on Monday in parts of Austin, where emergency crews in boats and helicopters rescued stranded residents who could not escape flooding. In Houston, some areas saw even heavier rainfalls.

"We?re the narrow point of a big funnel," Houston Mayor Annise Parker told CNN, adding that while rivers running through Houston are at full capacity, much of the city is fine.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared numerous counties disaster areas.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin and Jim Forsyth in San Antonio; Additional reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago and Scott DiSavino in New York and Anna Driver in Houston; Editing by Bill Trott)

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