Richardson residents preparing for heavy rain have a city response line available around the clock for water emergencies and general storm assistance: 972-744-4111.
The city's severe-weather resource page lists the number alongside emergency-notification registration and utility contacts. Those existing resources are useful ahead of a National Weather Service flood watch that includes both Dallas and Collin counties.
The watch begins at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, and continues through 7 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2. All times are Central Daylight Time. The Fort Worth forecast office extended the watch in its 2:15 p.m. Sept. 29 update.
Forecasters expect widespread rainfall of 2 to 4 inches across the watch area, with localized totals of 4 to 6 inches from slow-moving showers and storms. Runoff could flood creeks, streams and low-lying ground, including low-water crossings. The regional alert does not establish flooding on any specific Richardson road.
Residents can find registration for the Richardson Emergency Notification System through the city's severe-weather page. The same page separates city assistance from electric-outage reporting, which goes to Oncor. Keeping the relevant contacts available before a storm can help direct a report to the agency or provider that handles it.
Call 911 for a life-threatening emergency. For travel, check current notices and avoid water-covered roads. The watch is advance notice of possible flooding, with more specific warnings possible later; it is not a report of an evacuation or a utility outage.
