Deaths Several | Date 31 May 2016 | |
Location Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas | ||
The May 2016 United States storm complex was a flood in the United States that occurred on May 31, 2016, affecting the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. The inundation set precipitation records in Texas and Oklahoma. On June 2, 2016, the rising of the Brazos River required evacuations for portions of Brazoria County, Texas. Ten deaths of Texans and thousands of home evacuations led Texas Governor Greg Abbott to issue a statewide Disaster Proclamation on June 1, 2016 considering the damage in thirty-one counties including Austin, Bandera, Bastrop, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Coleman, Colorado, Erath, Fayette, Fort Bend, Grimes, Hidalgo, Hood, Jasper, Kleberg, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Lubbock, Montgomery, Palo Pinto, Parker, Polk, Robertson, San Jacinto, Tyler, Walker, Waller, Washington and Wharton counties. Meteorologists attribute this storm's devastation to the power of the El Niño climate cycle. An El Niño system is identified following fluctuation in the climate, characterized by an eastern shift of warming ocean water from the western tropical Pacific Ocean and rainfall along the equator.