12:40 p.m. (CDT)

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says several southeastern Kansas reservoirs are at flood-stage and that some low-lying areas of that region are already dealing with flooding.

Brownback said Friday that people in those areas need to be careful not to get caught unprepared by flooding.

Recent storms have caused widespread flooding in the southern Plains and have been blamed for the deaths of 21 people in Texas and four in Oklahoma. Storms are dumping more rain on the region and all of southeastern Kansas is under flood warnings or flash flood watches.

Kansas' adjutant general, Lee Tafanelli, said the state is assessing the damage and trying to project the potential impact of additional rain.

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12:25 p.m. (CDT)

Two Arkansas highways near the state's border with Texas have been closed because of high water on and near the Red River.

Arkansas highway officials on Friday closed U.S. 71 in both directions north of Texarkana. Traffic is being diverted to Hope, 30 miles to the east.

Earlier this week, crews closed Arkansas 41 south of Foreman near where it crosses the Red River into Texas.

The highway department has posted signs and is using electronic messages boards to warn motorists.

The department said the highways will be closed until the water recedes and engineers can inspect the roadways.

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12 p.m. (CDT)

Authorities say a man drowned after his truck was swept into a culvert near Dallas, raising the death toll from recent storms in Texas and Oklahoma to 25 people.

Mesquite Fire Department Capt. Kelly Turner says first responders found the dead man early Friday morning in his overturned truck, which was surrounded by floodwaters. He says the truck had been underwater for some time before they found it, and that authorities believe he was alone in the vehicle.

Turner says people stranded on two cars that were also swept off the road told responders about the truck. The driver's name wasn't released.

The recent storms have caused widespread flooding in the southern Plains, killing at least 21 people in Texas and four in Oklahoma. Texas has 14 missing people.

11:45 a.m. (CDT)

Flooding has blocked a busy highway near Dallas, causing major traffic delays in both directions.

Overnight rain caused water to pool under an overpass on Route 12 west of Dallas on Friday morning, trapping commuters for several hours.

Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Tony Hartzel says a crane was brought in to remove a section of median so that motorists trapped in the southbound lanes could get off the roadway. The northbound lane had already been cleared.

He says the southbound lanes were more challenging because streets where people could have exited were flooded as well.

He says they think that the area where the road usually drains to flooded as well, so there was nowhere for the water to go.

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10:45 a.m. (CDT)

Two forks of the San Jacinto River northeast of Houston have overflowed their banks, but no serious problems have been reported.

Harris County emergency management spokesman Francisco Sanchez says the water from the west fork has poured into the streets of nearby neighborhoods but the homes are on stilts and residents are used to high water.

He says it doesn't have to be a major flood for those conditions to develop.

Sanchez says those who live along the river's east fork are also used to being flooded and isolated, and they haven't reported any serious issues.

The forks combine to form Lake Houston, and the river below the lake eventually becomes the Houston Ship Channel.

Sanchez says highways in Houston and the rest of Harris County are clear.

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10 a.m. (CDT)

The Colorado River is expected to crest two feet lower than previously expected in and around the southeastern Texas city of Wharton, where residents have been asked to evacuate about 300 homes.

City spokeswoman Paula Favors said Friday that river level is expected to crest Saturday morning at 43 feet, not the 45 feet predicted Thursday.

She says a 43-foot crest would likely flood several residential streets in low-lying areas of Wharton, a city of roughly 8,500 residents about 60 miles southwest of Houston.

Favors says residents have been good about heeding the warnings to head for higher ground.

Recent storms have caused widespread flooding in Texas and nearby states and have been blamed for 20 deaths in Texas and four in Oklahoma. Fourteen people in Texas are also missing.

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9:10 a.m. (CDT)

Arkansas transportation officials have closed a section of southbound U.S. Highway 71 north of the Texas border due to flooding along the Red River.

The state Highway and Transportation Department says it closed a 2.47 miles of the southbound lanes Friday morning and that it may soon also have to close the northbound lanes as well. The road would remain closed until the water recedes and engineers can assess any damage.

A flooded 5-mile section of State Highway 41 near the Texas border also remains closed.

Recent storms have caused widespread flooding in the southern Plains and have been blamed for the deaths of 20 people in Texas and four in Oklahoma. Fourteen people in Texas also remain missing.

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8:55 a.m. (CDT)

Authorities say the Brazos River in North Texas' Parker County is rising again due to new rain and the opening of two flood gates upstream at Possum Kingdom Lake.

Joel Kertok, the emergency management spokesman for the county west of Fort Worth, said Friday that the river there has risen above flood stage again after dropping below it Thursday night.

On Thursday, water was lapping at the foundations of 11 homes as the river crested at 23.58 feet before dropping to about 20 feet. The flood stage is at 21 feet. The level rose Friday to 21.4 feet and was expected to rise more with the opening of the flood gates.

Residents of about 250 homes near the river, most in the Horseshoe Bend community, were asked to voluntarily evacuate.

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7:55 a.m. (CDT)

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says troopers rescued a man who was swept off a bridge by floodwaters, then jailed him on a public intoxication complaint.

The patrol says the unnamed man was swept away about 8:30 p.m. Thursday while walking across a closed portion of U.S. Highway 70 at the Muddy Boggy Bridge in Choctaw County. Troopers Kevin Antwine and Nathan Mullins put a boat in the water and found the man clinging to a tree about 200 yards south of the highway.

The patrol says that once he was transported back to shore, the man was arrested by Choctaw County sheriff's deputies on a complaint of public intoxication

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7:50 a.m. (CDT)

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for much of Arkansas following heavy rainfall across the state.

Forecasters say there will be several rounds of rainfall in Arkansas this weekend as a slow-moving storm system moves across the southern plains. While rainfall totals will generally be 1 to 2 inches with each round, the rainfall combined with already saturated ground will likely cause flash flooding in the northwest half of the state.

The flash flood watch will remain in effect through Saturday night in portions of central, north central, southwest and western Arkansas. Forecasters say area rivers and streams are already flooding or are nearly full, and any additional rainfall the region gets will not be able to drain into waterways.

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7:20 a.m. (CDT)

A line of thunderstorms stalled while passing over the Dallas area overnight, dropping as much as 7 inches of rain in some areas as vehicles became trapped on flooded streets and water seeped into homes.

Dallas Fire Rescue said early Friday that crews have responded to about 260 calls that include vehicles trapped in high water and accidents related to the weather since midnight Thursday.

National Weather Service meteorologist Ted Ryan says an average of 3 to 5 inches of rain fell across the area after the thunderstorms stalled over the city.

He says the Dallas suburb of Garland got from 6 to 7 inches of rain. He says flooding along a creek there washed some cars down the street.

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6:45 a.m. (CDT)

Johnson County officials say they have evacuated 12 people who were caught in floodwaters.

Officials said some homes in the county some 50 miles south of Dallas were inundated with water late Thursday. Some people were rescued from stranded vehicles.

Texas has been dealing with flooding since heavy rains began at the weekend, worsened by thunderstorms that passed through the state overnight.

The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings for 21 Texas communities including Johnson, Travis and Bastrop counties.

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3:30 a.m. (CDT)

Emergency personnel have rescued the occupants of a houseboat that was adrift in Lake Travis in Austin.

Austin-Travis County EMS says the 21 occupants of the boat rescued Friday were not injured.

Responders say the houseboat broke free from Sandy Creek Marina earlier in the day. The area has been blighted by days of relentless rains. Emergency personnel used three boats to attach the houseboat to the dock at the marina.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for parts of Travis, Williamson and Bastrop counties until 4:45 a.m.