Historic rainfall causes flooding in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

Historic flooding in and around the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area is wreaking havoc. Some residents are living through an an extreme weather event thought to happen only once every thousand years.

For months, extreme drought conditions have gripped North Texas. Some parts recorded 67 straight days with no precipitation. Grass fires, a common sight during Texas droughts, burned close to two dozen homes in one Dallas suburb in July.

What a difference a day makes.

Starting overnight Sunday and continuing into Monday, heavy rains began to fall across the region. Some parts saw almost 15 inches of rain in 12 hours. In a few isolated cases, the amount of rainfall qualifies as a once in a thousand-year event.

The dry, scorched ground and miles of concrete could not handle the deluge from above, so roads flooded quickly.

First responders performed around 140 water-related rescues by 8:00am Monday.

The National Weather Service said another three to five inches of rain could fall before the storm moves east.

So much water fell so quickly, one gauge recorded 40% of its annual total in just 12 hours. But the NWS said  it still might not be enough drought relief.

According to climatologists, climate change is making extreme weather events like the Texas flooding more common.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.