A perfect storm of a slow-moving pocket of moist air, parched terrain and a hilly area prone to flash flooding unleashed absolute hell on Texas Hill Country — where more than 40 people have died, according to meteorologists.
Everything was in “exactly the wrong place” on July 4, Alan Gerard, a recently retired storm specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told USA Today.
The trouble all started with Tropical Storm Barry. The storm made landfall on the eastern coast of Mexico Monday morning, according to FOX 7 Austin meteorologist Adaleigh Rowe. The storm continued to move northward until it encountered a high-pressure system in central Texas — and stalled.
“Since high pressure has been blocking it from moving away, this moisture, this low-pressure system has been trapped over central Texas, producing what we call ‘training thunderstorms,’ or storms that hit the same areas over and over and over,”