Police evacuated residents living near a dam southwest of Dallas that was poised to burst on Wednesday due to surging floodwaters as emergency officials searched for bodies from storms that killed at least 17 in Texas and Oklahoma.
Water was topping the Padera dam, about 25 miles (40 kms) southwest of Dallas, and Midlothian Police said they have called on people living downstream to evacuate their houses and move livestock to higher ground in case the structure gives way.
Meanwhile, the death toll is set to rise with numerous people still missing in Texas after the storms slammed the states during the Memorial Day weekend, causing record floods that destroyed hundreds of homes, swept away bridges and stranded more than 1,000 motorists on area roads.
"Right now we still have a lot of our neighborhoods underwater," Michael Walter, a spokesman for Houston's Office of Emergency Management, told NBC's "Today" program.
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