San Marcos: Record rainfall was wreaking havoc across a swath of the US Midwest, causing flash floods in normally dry riverbeds, spawning tornadoes and forcing at least 2,000 people to flee. Tornadoes struck, severely damaging an apartment complex in Houston, Texas yesterday. A firefighter in Oklahoma was swept to his death while trying to rescue 10 people in high water.

And the body of a man was recovered from a flooded area along the Blanco River, which rose 26 feet (7.8 metres) in just one hour and left piles of wreckage 20 feet (6 metres) high, authorities in Texas said. "It looks pretty bad out there," said Hays County emergency management coordinator Kharley Smith, describing the destruction in Wimberley, a community that is part of a fast-growing corridor between Austin and San Antonio.