The National Weather Service extended a flash flooding warning for El Paso County past 10 p.m. Sunday as heavy rain and thunderstorms swept across parts of the Borderland on June 14. The warning came while flooding was already slowing traffic and leaving some neighborhoods hard to get out of.
The reason people were watching the weather so closely was already on the ground in the streets. In the Upper Valley early Sunday evening, a severe thunderstorm flooded intersections in the Sunset neighborhood, and by around 7:30 p.m. it was difficult to get out of the area. The intersection at Sunland Park and Doniphan Drive also saw flooding that tied up traffic.
That was not the only trouble spot. Heavy rain was reported in Anthony, Las Cruces, Northeast El Paso and elsewhere in the Borderland, while the Texas Department of Transportation El Paso District reported flooded roadways in the Northeast and elsewhere. Drivers were reminded not to drive into standing water, a warning that fit the scene already unfolding across more than one part of the county.
The timing made the difference. The National Weather Service said the severe thunderstorm warning stretched east to Socorro and was set to last until 8 p.m. Sunday, but the flash flooding warning for El Paso County remained in place past 10 p.m. That left residents and motorists with a longer window of risk even after the stronger storm alert was supposed to end.
With flooding affecting intersections, traffic and roadways across the Borderland, the next question is not whether the rain had already caused problems. It was how much more water would fall before the flash flooding warning finally expired, and whether the same roads that were already backing up would stay passable through the rest of the night.
