Between June 5 and 9, 2001, Tropical Storm Allison meandered over Texas and Louisiana, bringing 30 inches of rain to both states. In Houston, over 73,000 homes and 95,000 vehicles were flooded.
Diana Delarosa is helped through rushing floodwaters by Sean Torres, left, Julia Demeritt, and Ryan Johnson as the thrill-seeking young adults brave the rushing water down the middle of Michaux Streen in Woodland Heights as the water rushes towards White Oak Bayou in the early morning hours of Saturday morning June 9, 2001, as heavy rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison inundate Houston, TX, flooding a vast majority of the metropolitan area. (Smiley N. Pool/Chronicle)
Long before Hurricane Harvey flooded vast swaths of Texas in 2017, the storm of record for the coast of the Lone Star State wasn’t strong enough to be classified as a hurricane. However, Tropical Storm Allison provided nearly as much rainfall as Harvey, causing widespread flooding.
Before Harvey became the modern symbol of Texas flooding, another storm held the record, and it never reached hurricane strength. Tropical Storm Allison produced extraordinary rainfall and caused devastating flooding, rivaling Harvey’s totals in some areas.
Over a period of five days in June 2001, Tropical Storm Allison drifted inland into southeastern Texas, dropping more than 35 inches of rain in parts of that state and Louisiana. As much as 25 inches fell northeast of Houston on June 8-9 in a 12-hour period…