Houston, Rajab 13, 1437, Apr 20, 2016, SPA -- At least nine people have died and more than 1,100 homes have been damaged in flooding caused by heavy rain in the Houston area this week, officials said Wednesday, as forecasts called for more rain. Eight of those killed were found in vehicles that had been in flooded areas, authorities said. There have been more than 1,200 water rescues during the recent flooding, with emergency crews shuttling people by boat to dry ground and picking up motorists whose cars were stuck in rushing waters. The Houston public-school district-the seventh-largest in the United States-reopened classes Wednesday after being closed for two days. The National Weather Service (NWS) said more rain was expected in the fourth-largest U.S. city after a record-setting downpour that dropped as much as 45 centimeters on some parts of the Houston area on Monday. The NWS issued a flood watch from central Texas through Houston and into large areas of Louisiana. Heavy storms can overwhelm the drainage channels that move water from Houston back to the Gulf of Mexico, particularly if the ground already is saturated. The city faced similar widespread flooding during a storm last May and a 2001 tropical storm. --SPA 20:02 LOCAL TIME 17:02 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w