Where the week happened
Each numbered area is one of the stories below, drawn over the counties its warnings covered.
- Flash flooding in Texas and New Mexico, Sep 23
- Flash flooding in Texas and New Mexico, Sep 24–25
- Flash flooding in Texas, Sep 25
The same areas as a list
- 1. Flash flooding in Texas and New Mexico, September 23 · Water · 4 counties drawn
- 2. Flash flooding in Texas and New Mexico, September 24 to 25 · Water · 6 counties drawn
- 3. Flash flooding in Texas, September 25 · Water · 6 counties drawn
When it happened
- Fewer warnings
- More warnings
- Impact on people reported
View as a table
| Day | Warnings | Story on the map | Documented impact on people |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 21 | 152 | — | — |
| Sep 22 | 45 | — | — |
| Sep 23 | 40 | 1 | Yes |
| Sep 24 | 50 | 2 | Yes |
| Sep 25 | 97 | 2, 3 | Yes |
| Sep 26 | 47 | — | — |
| Sep 27 | 49 | — | — |
1Floodwater enters El Paso apartments and damaged roads close
SEP 22, 10 PM CDT
First warning
Hudspeth County, Texas
SEP 23, 7 AM CDT
Last warning
Doña Ana County, New Mexico
- Flash flooding — coloured as water. 4 counties in Texas and New Mexico, Sep 23.
At North View Apartments in Northeast El Paso, flooding reported on September 23 reached four ground-floor units, with water approximately 1.5 feet deep, the property manager told KVIA ABC-7. Residents faced cleanup inside their homes, while crews elsewhere in the city confronted damaged streets.
The first flash flood warning in this episode went out for Hudspeth County on the evening of September 22, local time. Warnings also covered El Paso County and neighboring New Mexico, the border-area flooding marked 1 on the map. The last warning ended in Doña Ana County the following morning.
At North View, property manager Mike Baca told KVIA on September 23 that rain had overwhelmed the property's ponding arroyo. “Evidently the rain overtook that, and we're dealing with the aftermath.” Baca, general manager of M7elp Property Management, said trucks were extracting floodwater from the complex.
Beyond residents' doors, El Paso police closed Scenic Drive in both directions on September 23. KVIA reported a caved-in section of roadway and officers blocking access. The station also relayed fire officials' reports of sinkholes: police and barricades blocked Brown Street and Murchison Drive, while street crews investigated Campbell Street and Myrtle Avenue.
At Doniphan and Racetrack that day, KVIA observed stalled vehicles being towed after drivers entered high water. Elsewhere in El Paso, crews removed water, mud, rocks and trees from roads. No deaths or injuries were reported in the coverage checked for this flooding, including KVIA, the El Paso Times and KISS FM.
Flood alerts by the numbers: every published month, by state and county.
2Rescuers pull two men from floodwater in Hudspeth County
SEP 24, 4 PM CDT
First warning
Culberson County, Texas
SEP 24, 5 PM CDT
Considerable threat
El Paso County, Texas
SEP 25, 11 AM CDT
Last warning
Brewster County, Texas
- Flash flooding — coloured as water. 6 counties in Texas and New Mexico, Sep 24–25.
Near San Felipe Road in Hudspeth County early September 25, a road rapidly became a river. Vanessa Guerra, an El Paso County emergency services district representative, told KTSM 9 News: “It happened on the road, which became a river really quickly and rescuing was needed”. The rescue took place within the western Texas flooding marked 2 on the map.
The warning sequence had begun in Culberson County the previous afternoon. By 4:18 p.m. on September 24, a flash flood warning for El Paso County carried a considerable damage threat. That evening, Terlingua Fire and EMS shared a weather service storm statement, and officials advised people to seek shelter and avoid driving through flooded roads, according to the Big Bend Reporter.
Early the next morning, rescuers brought two men to safety from a vehicle trapped in rapidly moving water near San Felipe Road, the Horizon City Fire Department told KTSM. Authorities reported neither man was injured, according to El Diario de El Paso, republished by El Diario del Noroeste. County water-rescue and search-and-rescue personnel worked alongside firefighters and sheriff's personnel from the surrounding area.
In eastern El Paso County, Gateway West at Harnose had closed at 1 a.m. on September 25 after flooding left several inches of mud on the roadway, KTSM reported. Traffic was diverted to North Loop and Nuevo Hueco Tanks Road for access to the interstate.
After water receded around 9 a.m. that morning, transportation crews worked to remove mud from Gateway West. KTSM reported that the left lane at Horizon reopened, but right lanes remained closed and traffic backed up. Beyond the uninjured men in the rescue, no deaths or injuries were reported in the coverage checked for this flooding, including KTSM, El Diario de El Paso and KVIA.
Flood alerts by the numbers: every published month, by state and county.
3Flooding cuts off roads in Parmer and Terry counties
SEP 24, 6 PM CDT
First warning
Parmer County, Texas
SEP 24, 10 PM CDT
County order
Parmer County, Texas
SEP 25, 10 AM CDT
County order
Parmer County, Texas
SEP 25, 10 AM CDT
County order
Hockley County, Texas
SEP 26, 5 AM CDT
Last warning
Castro County, Texas
- Flash flooding — coloured as water. 6 counties in Texas, Sep 25.
At Lake Bottom in Parmer County on September 25, floodwater made FM2396 impassable. The Texas Department of Transportation closed the stretch between US60 and FM2290 and directed drivers to alternate routes, according to its emergency alert reproduced by GovOneStop. The closure was part of the Panhandle and South Plains flooding marked 3 on the map.
A flash flood warning had begun in Parmer County the previous evening. A late-night closure alert followed for FM1381 at US60, before morning notices closed the Lake Bottom stretch and a flooded road in Hockley County. The Texas alert for the latter stated, “FM303 CLOSED NEAR S-CURVES DUE TO FLOODING”.
In Terry County on September 25, transportation officials also closed FM213 between FM303 and FM403. Sections were impassable, and motorists were instructed to find another route, according to the department's emergency alert reproduced by GovOneStop.
At the southbound interstate exit to McCormick Road, transportation officials announced a flooding closure at 10:17 a.m. that day and asked drivers to avoid the area if possible, the Amarillo Globe-News reported. No deaths or injuries were reported in the coverage and official records checked for this flooding, including the newspaper, transportation alerts and weather service statements.
At Palo Duro Canyon State Park on September 25, all trails closed, along with the road from just past the Lighthouse parking lot to the Cactus Day Use Area, according to the Amarillo Globe-News. Park officials strongly encouraged visitors to postpone trips because of continued rain and wet conditions. The park itself remained open and continued honoring campsite reservations.
Flood alerts by the numbers: every published month, by state and county.
How BePrepared monitors this, all year
This report exists because we already monitor the whole country. Every couple of minutes, around the clock, we read the emergency alerts going out across all fifty states and territories, and we keep them. A month of that record is what you have just read.
The national picture is the part most people never see. What matters to you is much smaller: which of these warnings would have reached your street, and what the risks around you look like on an ordinary day.
That is what BePrepared is for. Put in your ZIP code and you get the picture for where you live — the flood, fire and storm history around you, the dams and facilities nearby, and a plan for your household rather than a general one. With a free account you can keep a watchlist of the places you care about, like your home, your parents' address, and your kids' school, and set what you want to hear about.
Where it hit hardest
Counted as distinct warnings, and as the days a county spent under one. A county is the smallest area these warnings describe.
Warnings by region
- Texas83
- Southwest6
Most days under a warning
- El Paso County, TX4 days
- Parmer County, TX4 days
- Hudspeth County, TX3 days
- Hockley County, TX3 days
- Cochran County, TX3 days
- Terry County, TX3 days
- Culberson County, TX2 days
- Reeves County, TX2 days
Where the warnings landed
- Flooding
- Severe storms
- Safety & civil
- Everything else
Flooding397 warnings · 58 counties
Severe storms157 warnings · 44 counties
Safety & civil59 warnings · 49 counties
View as a table
| County | State | Warnings | Most frequent kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Paso | TX | 71 | Flooding |
| Hudspeth | TX | 48 | Flooding |
| Culberson | TX | 32 | Flooding |
| Reeves | TX | 27 | Severe storms |
| Hockley | TX | 23 | Severe storms |
| Doña Ana | NM | 22 | Flooding |
| Brewster | TX | 22 | Flooding |
| Lamb | TX | 19 | Severe storms |
| Randall | TX | 19 | Flooding |
| Parmer | TX | 18 | Tornadoes |
| Otero | NM | 17 | Flooding |
| Jeff Davis | TX | 15 | Everything else |
| Tarrant | TX | 14 | Everything else |
| Eddy | NM | 14 | Flooding |
| Freestone | TX | 14 | Severe storms |
| Hartley | TX | 13 | Flooding |
| Collin | TX | 12 | Everything else |
| Lea | NM | 12 | Flooding |
| Cochran | TX | 12 | Severe storms |
| Dallam | TX | 12 | Flooding |
The human record
What it cost, and who reported it
These figures are not ours. Our archive records that a warning was issued, never what happened next, so every number here comes from the organization named beside it and was retrieved on September 30, 2026.
Toll
0injuries in the airport awning collapse
The El Paso Fire Department told KVIA that nobody was hurt when part of the front-entrance awning at El Paso International Airport collapsed shortly before 10 p.m. on September 23.
Source: KVIA ABC-7
In their words
Mike Baca described the flooding at North View Apartments to KVIA, saying the rain had overwhelmed the property's ponding arroyo.
“Evidently the rain overtook that, and we're dealing with the aftermath.”
Mike Baca, General manager of M7elp Property Management, to KVIA ABC-7 Source: KVIA ABC-7
Damage
4apartment units reporting flooding
North View Apartments property manager Mike Baca told KVIA that four first-floor units in the Northeast El Paso complex reported flooding involving water approximately 1.5 feet deep.
Source: KVIA ABC-7
Damage
7vehicles stranded
The City of El Paso said floodwater stranded seven vehicles at one location.
Source: KVIA ABC-7
Damage
2sinkhole reports
El Paso Fire reported two sinkhole reports, with police and barricades blocking Brown Street and Murchison Drive and the Streets and Maintenance Department investigating Campbell Street and Myrtle Avenue.
Source: KVIA ABC-7
Toll
Authorities reported no injuries in the September 25 rescue of two men from a vehicle trapped in floodwater near San Felipe road in Hudspeth County.
Source: El Diario de El Paso, republished by El Diario del Noroeste
ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on September 25.
Rescue
2people rescued
Rescuers removed two men from a vehicle trapped in rapidly moving floodwater near San Felipe road in Hudspeth County early September 25 and brought them to safety, according to the Horizon City Fire Department.
Source: KTSM 9 News, syndicated by AOL
ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on September 25.
In their words
Vanessa Guerra of El Paso County Emergency Services District No. 1 told KTSM that the road at the Hudspeth County rescue location rapidly became a river.
“It happened on the road, which became a river really quickly and rescuing was needed”
Vanessa Guerra, El Paso County Emergency Services District No. 1 representative, to KTSM 9 News Source: KTSM 9 News, syndicated by AOL
Closed
Gateway West at Harnose in eastern El Paso County closed at 1 a.m. on September 25 after flooding left several inches of mud covering the roadway.
Source: KTSM 9 News, syndicated by AOL
ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on September 25.
Response
The September 25 Hudspeth County rescue involved the El Paso County Emergency Services District No. 1 Water Rescue Team and county search-and-rescue personnel, assisted by personnel from San Elizario, Fabens, Texas Task Force 1, El Paso Fire and the Hudspeth and El Paso county sheriff's offices.
Source: KTSM 9 News, syndicated by AOL
ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on September 25.
Closed
On September 25, 2026, TxDOT reported that FM2396 between US60 and FM2290 in Parmer County was closed by flooding, with the road impassable at Lake Bottom, and directed motorists to alternate routes.
Source: Texas Department of Transportation emergency alert, reproduced by GovOneStop
ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on September 25.
Closed
On September 25, 2026, TxDOT reported that FM213 from FM303 to FM403 in Terry County was closed by flooding, with sections impassable, and instructed motorists to seek an alternate route.
Source: Texas Department of Transportation emergency alert, reproduced by GovOneStop
ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on September 25.
Closed
The Amarillo Globe-News reported that TxDOT announced at 10:17 a.m. on September 25, 2026, that flooding had closed the southbound I-27 exit ramp to McCormick Road and asked drivers to avoid the area if possible.
Closed
Palo Duro Canyon State Park announced on September 25, 2026, that all trails and the road from just past the Lighthouse parking lot to the Cactus Day Use Area were closed.
Response
Palo Duro Canyon State Park strongly encouraged visitors to postpone their visits because of continued rain and wet conditions on September 25, 2026, while keeping the park open and honoring campsite reservations.
For 3 of these stories, research looked for reported deaths and injuries and found none. As far as the record shows, no one was hurt.
The numbers behind this report
Every warning counted once, by type, place, day and hour, with the method below and the whole table downloadable at the end of the page.
What was warned about
| Alert type | Warnings | Messages |
|---|---|---|
| Special Weather Statement | 167 | 167 |
| Severe Thunderstorm Warning | 89 | 89 |
| Flash Flood Warning | 81 | 81 |
| Flood Advisory | 62 | 62 |
| Flood Watch | 32 | 38 |
| Local Area Emergency | 20 | 20 |
| Air Quality Alert | 13 | 13 |
| Flood Warning | 9 | 9 |
Where
| State | Warnings |
|---|---|
| TX | 412 |
| NM | 48 |
| OK | 14 |
| AR | 3 |
| LA | 3 |
The busiest hour of the period was 5pm local time, with 54 warnings.
Counties reached most often
| County | State | Warnings |
|---|---|---|
| El Paso | TX | 71 |
| Hudspeth | TX | 48 |
| Culberson | TX | 32 |
| Reeves | TX | 27 |
| Hockley | TX | 23 |
| Doña Ana | NM | 22 |
| Brewster | TX | 22 |
| Lamb | TX | 19 |
| Randall | TX | 19 |
| Parmer | TX | 18 |
A county with no alerts is not a county with no risk. It can mean a quiet period, or a hazard that this feed does not carry.
When the warnings arrived
View as a table
| Local hour | Warnings | Of which most severe |
|---|---|---|
| 12am | 19 | 0 |
| 1am | 17 | 0 |
| 2am | 21 | 0 |
| 3am | 11 | 0 |
| 4am | 11 | 0 |
| 5am | 4 | 0 |
| 6am | 10 | 0 |
| 7am | 6 | 0 |
| 8am | 6 | 0 |
| 9am | 9 | 0 |
| 10am | 8 | 0 |
| 11am | 10 | 0 |
| 12pm | 11 | 0 |
| 1pm | 20 | 0 |
| 2pm | 42 | 0 |
| 3pm | 33 | 0 |
| 4pm | 47 | 0 |
| 5pm | 54 | 1 |
| 6pm | 29 | 0 |
| 7pm | 34 | 0 |
| 8pm | 14 | 0 |
| 9pm | 21 | 0 |
| 10pm | 19 | 4 |
| 11pm | 24 | 2 |
The feed repeats itself
View as a table
| Stage | Count |
|---|---|
| Messages received | 486 |
| Of which updates | 144 |
| Of which cancels | 0 |
| Distinct warnings | 480 |
| Counties reached | 203 |
How severe they were
- Minor
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme
- Not classified
View as a table
| Severity | Warnings |
|---|---|
| Minor | 62 |
| Moderate | 167 |
| Severe | 231 |
| Extreme | 7 |
| Not classified | 13 |
What people were told to do
- Follow instructions
- Avoid
- Shelter
- Everything else
Where those instructions came from
- Shelter (95) — 41 corroborated as flood, 1 corroborated as tornado, 53 with no hazard stated in the alert text
View as a table
| Response | Warnings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Follow instructions | 167 | 34.8% |
| Avoid | 152 | 31.7% |
| Shelter | 95 | 19.8% |
| Prepare | 33 | 6.9% |
| Unstated | 20 | 4.2% |
| Monitor | 13 | 2.7% |
What this report cannot tell you
- This report records the warnings that were sent: when, where, and what people were told to do. It cannot say whether anyone received them, whether they acted, or whether they had anywhere to go.
- Deaths, injuries, damage and acreage come from the news organizations and agencies named beside each figure. Our own records measure warnings, never outcomes, and are never the source for a toll.
- A county is the smallest area these alerts describe, so "a county was warned" does not mean every street in it was at risk.
- Where no figure has been reported, this report says so rather than estimating.
How these numbers were counted
Counted SEP 21, 2026 – SEP 28, 2026 · Frozen at publishThe alert figures in this report — how many warnings, where, when, and how severe — come from the alerts this archive received from FEMA IPAWS and the National Weather Service between September 21, 2026 and September 28, 2026, counted once and frozen when the report was published.
Deaths, damage and acreage are not ours and are never drawn from this archive. Each is attributed to the organization that reported it, above.
What was counted
- Only alerts covering at least one county in Texas. An alert warning several states is counted in each of them, so state editions do not sum to the national total.
- cap_status = 'Actual' (tests, exercises and demos excluded)
- SAME test codes RWT/RMT/DMO/NPT/NAT excluded, and any event type containing "test"
- An event is the first message of a CAP identifier chain; updates and cancels are counted separately
- Alert time is cap_sent, falling back to ingest time when the feed omits it
- Counties come from the alert geocodes (SAME/FIPS); statewide codes are not counted as counties
What these numbers cannot tell you
- Lead time is the gap between when an alert was sent and when it takes effect. This archive collapses CAP onset into effective, so for many products those are the same instant by design — it is not a measure of forecast warning time.
- 2 alerts expire exactly 24 hours after they were sent because the feed omitted an expiry and the ingest substitutes a default. They are excluded from the duration distribution rather than charted as real forecasts.
- Evacuation and shelter figures are RESPONSE counts. They record what people were told to do, not what caused it; where the alert text does not name a hazard, the row is reported as unstated.
- Hour-of-day figures use each alert’s own local time, resolved from its state. Alerts spanning several states resolve to the first state in their geocodes.
- National Weather Service alerts began arriving in volume on 2026-06-12. Earlier months hold only the handful that reached this archive by other routes, so they undercount weather alerts badly and cannot be compared with later months.
- Population figures are not available for these counties, so alert counts are reported per county and never per resident.
This archive
Collection began 2026-03-27. National Weather Service alerts began arriving in volume on 2026-06-12 (a small number reached the archive by other routes from 2026-03-31). Months from 2026-07-01 onward can be compared with each other; earlier ones cannot.
Photographs
The photos come from the reporting each story cites, or from public-domain and openly licensed collections. Each is credited as published and links to the page it came from; none belongs to BePrepared, and each is shown uncropped. To ask for a photo to be removed, write to support@bepreparedsolutions.co.
For newsrooms and researchers
Use these figures
Journalists, emergency managers and researchers are welcome to reuse anything in this report, including the underlying counts, with attribution. Version 1 of these figures is frozen: if a correction changes them, it appears above as a dated note rather than silently replacing what you cited.
BePreparedSolutions.co. "Flooding enters El Paso homes and closes West Texas roads." Alert Pulse, September 30, 2026. https://bepreparedsolutions.co/reports/alert-pulse/tx-week-2026-09-21
Source: BePrepared Solutions, Alert Pulse (2026). Alert counts from FEMA IPAWS and National Weather Service feeds; casualty and damage figures as attributed in the report.
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The embed updates itself if we publish a correction, so it never goes stale the way a screenshot does.
The CSV carries the same frozen figures as this page, keyed to version 1.