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May is known as the peak of severe weather season for Texas, and this May did not disappoint. The state saw a variety of severe weather, but the biggest impacts were due to flooding. Flooding occurred throughout Texas which lead to far too many casualties. One of these floods caused 6 people to die in Palestine including 4 children and another in  Austin caused a confirmed 6 deaths, though the total number attributable to these events has not yet been determined as there are still missing people who have yet to be accounted for. Aside from lives, homes were also damaged and thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes to higher ground. 11 locations set records for total monthly precipitation and another 17 set records for 24 hour precipitation, the latter including Brenham which saw 20.5 inches in a single day, breaking the previous record by more than 10 inches. Half of the statewide USGS river gauges set records for several days for high streamflow following the rains, and most of these gauges were still in the 80-90 percentile range by the end of the month. Other flooding included Lake Medina, which saw its storage increase by almost 100,00 acre-feet in only a few days, reaching full capacity for the first time since 2008 and dumping water as high as 4 feet above its spillway. Damage estimates have not been completed but insurance analysts believe the flooding and hail associated with the severe weather this month could cost over $6 billion. In addition to these impacts, agricultural necessities were not being met for some, with the soils being oversaturated, damaging yields and delaying harvesting and planting. In the end, 31 counties were declared disaster areas.

Tornadoes and hail also caused their fair share of damage throughout Texas during May. One went through Bryan and caused damage to 153 homes. Another tornado hit a jail, which ended up only causing damage to the building and the occupants were unharmed. Other tornadoes hit in deep south Texas, far east Texas, central Texas and the Panhandle. In all, the Storm Prediction Center gathered 54 accounts of tornadoes in Texas during May. In the same areas, hail and strong winds were also reported. Hail through May came in many different sizes from very small to baseball sized, including 2.5 inch hailstones in Upton and 3 inch hailstones in Masterson. Overall, May brought about lots of severe weather for Texas, and one of the most damaging was flooding due to blocked roadways, agricultural issues, and deaths.
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