NEW ORLEANS – Dangerous severe weather and potentially life-threatening flooding continues to threaten communities across the South from Texas through Louisiana and Mississippi along the Gulf Coast on Wednesday.

Extreme weather has been relentlessly pounding the region for days, leading to the death of a 10-year-old Texas girl who was swept away by floodwaters as she walked home from school. Three other people were injured when a bolt of lightning struck a home in Texas, sparking a fire.

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Torrential rain led to numerous Flash Flood Warnings in Texas and Louisiana from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, with officials urging residents to remain vigilant and not to travel over water-covered roadways.

Well over a half-foot of rain has fallen in several communities, including Lake Charles, Lafayette and New Iberia in Louisiana.

Flood Watches and Warnings remain in effect along the Gulf Coast from the Port Arthur area in Texas to the Alabama–Florida state line.

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NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has increased the flood threat along the Gulf Coast, placing southeastern Louisiana, including the New Orleans and Grand Isle areas, in a Level 3 out of 4 risk on Wednesday.

A Level 2 threat exists from southeastern Texas to southwestern Alabama.

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In addition to the flash flood threat on Wednesday, forecasters are also concerned about the risk of severe weather.

NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has placed nearly 30 million people from the southern and central Plains to the Southeast in a Level 1 out of 5 threat of severe weather on its 5-point severe thunderstorm risk scale.

The main threats from thunderstorms that develop on Wednesday will be the risk of damaging wind gusts, large hail and lightning. However, there is also a tornado threat that stretches along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida.