UVALDE, Texas (AP) \u2014 Catastrophic flash floods in Texas have killed two people and forced hundreds of rescues in areas still reeling from\u00a0devastating floods\u00a0a year ago, Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday.<\/p>\n
Rescuers aboard boats and helicopters have saved more than 200 people, including stranded drivers and people trapped in homes, Abbott said.<\/p>\n
The governor said the hardest-hit areas are expecting more rain into Friday and are not out of danger yet, with some rivers expected to reach historic levels.<\/p>\n
After\u00a0days of pounding rain, the National Weather Service said a large wave on Thursday barreled down the same river\u00a0wrecked by flash floods\u00a0last summer when two dozen children and counselors died at Camp Mystic.<\/p>\n
WATCH: One year since deadly flood at Camp Mystic, parents push for better safety standards<\/a><\/p>\n Much like last year, the floods came in the middle of the night. But this time some residents in the Texas Hill Country said they received more warnings.<\/p>\n Forecasters urgently warned, “Move to higher ground now!” as rivers rose hour by hour, turning them into\u00a0fast-moving seas of white water.\u00a0Some spots of the Guadalupe River rose by more than 30 feet (9 meters).<\/p>\n The governor said more than 2,000 first responders had been deployed and some evacuations began before the worst of the flooding.<\/p>\n “What happened last year was a warning to people on or near rivers,” Abbott said. “No one can be complacent.”<\/p>\n As much as 28 inches (74 centimeters) of rain fell over the past three days in Uvalde County, which was spared from the worst flooding a year ago, the weather service said Thursday. Other areas saw roughly a foot of rain.<\/p>\n Victims in Texas floods were swept away<\/p>\n The governor said one of the victims was driving on a flooded road and was swept away near Uvalde while the other died in Kerr County.<\/p>\n Jennie Steward said the body of her husband, 65-year-old John Mark Steward, of Kerrville, was found Thursday.<\/p>\n She was visiting her parents when a neighbor called overnight, saying her husband was missing after water had risen to the door of their mobile home, which stood off the ground.<\/p>\n The entire home was swept off the platform and floated down Goat Creek on the Guadalupe, she said.<\/p>\n “It’s really hard that I wasn’t there with him,” she said. The two last spoke by phone Wednesday to celebrate their third anniversary.<\/p>\n Hill Country residents say they were better prepared<\/p>\n The unfolding crisis brought back\u00a0haunting memories\u00a0of last summer’s unimaginable\u00a0Hill Country floods\u00a0that killed more than 100 people over the July Fourth holiday.<\/p>\n “It’s crazy happening two times in one year,” said Josiah Rodriguez, who awoke to the sound of heavy rain around 2 a.m. Thursday in Kerrville. He navigated flooded roads to help evacuate relatives.<\/p>\n “Last year there was no warning of it,” he said. “It just kind of happened overnight and it took everyone by surprise. This year, a lot more alerts have gone into place, a lot more safety measures.”<\/p>\n