Heavy rain on tap for Texas this week may trigger new flooding

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Storms are expected to pound Texas with heavy rain this week and could start a new round of flooding in the state, which is still recovering from floods in late May that killed about 30 people and caused widespread damage, according to U.S. weather officials.

Flash flood watches are in effect for central Texas and in the Houston area, regions where flooding last month turned streets into rivers, submerged thousands and vehicles and led to swollen rivers that ripped scores of houses off their foundations.

Heavy rain hit parts of Texas over the weekend, pushing rivers that were already high due to the previous heavy rains a little closer to spilling over their banks.

"The second and more potent round of heavy rain will occur Tuesday through Thursday as a land-falling tropical system moves across the region," the National Weather Service on Monday.

In the Houston area, rain could total as much as 10 inches by Thursday.

"Rainfall total this high will lead to flooding," it said.

Parts of Texas, the nation's largest domestic energy producer, are still recovering from the last round of floods that caused chaos in transportation. Those rains led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights at airports in Dallas and Houston, some of the nation's busiest, and closing parts of highways throughout the state.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Susan Heavey)

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