DALLAS — The rain is not going away anytime soon, News 8 meteorologist Greg Fields reported early Monday afternoon.
As light to moderate rain fell across North Texas at noon, more than one inch of precipitation had accumulated in parts of Denton County.
The steady rain led to mudslides in many areas across North Texas, which, in turn, has generated road problems for the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT has reported 50 minor mudslides in seven counties.
Mudslides can be seen from Highway 114 East in Trophy Club and another at Interstate 30 at Belt Line Road in Grand Prairie. On Sunday night, a retaining wall collapsed in Fort Worth.
TxDOT officials realize the problem can only get worse until the weather lets up.
"It's the additional rainfall that's falling this year," explained TxDOT spokesman Mark Pettit. "El Niño is putting extra moisture into the ground, and until that clears up, there's not much we can do except watch it."
Workers can't do much when the ground stays saturated, but as bad as it looks, TxDOT says this is not yet an emergency.
"If there is an emergency situation where earth is starting to fall onto the roadway or earth is starting to peel away, we can move in, in some cases, and take care of that immediately," Pettit said.
The highway agency is thankful that the minor mudslides in the Dallas district have not put drivers in danger.
TxDOT says it could build roads where there is no threat of mudslides, but the cost to do that would be extraordinary — beyond the state's budget.
So they try to find a happy medium and factor in normal weather conditions when building new roads.
But while skies are expected to clear on Tuesday, more precipitation — with the possibility of snow — is forecast for Wednesday night and Thursday.
E-mail ddenmon@wfaa.com
