A Fort Worth-area boy died after the car he was in became trapped in a stream. formed by the floods that have affected the state of Texas in recent days and that have caused hundreds of people to have to be rescued.
During the last week, Areas near Lake Livingston, located northeast of Houston, have received more than 23 inches of rainNational Weather Service meteorologist Jimmy Fowler said Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, areas in northeast Harris County, the nation’s third-largest county that includes Houston, ranged from 6 inches to nearly 17 inches of rain in that same period.
“With the rain that fell overnight and this morning, it kind of prolonged the river flooding that we were experiencing,” Fowler said, according to The Associate Press.
In Johnson County, located south of Fort Worth, the 5-year-old boy died when he was swept away after the vehicle he was riding in got stuck in fast-moving water near the community of Lillian shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, an official said.
The boy and two adults were trying to reach dry land when they were swept away.Johnson County Emergency Management Director Jamie Moore wrote in a Facebook post.
The two adults were rescued about 5 a.m. and taken to a hospital, while the child was found dead about 7:20 a.m. in the water, Moore said.
Numerous rescues in Texas
The storms brought 9 inches of rain in a span of six to eight hours in some areas from central Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth area overnight, National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Stalley said.
Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District, said Sunday afternoon that “things are slowly improving.”
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said that 233 people and 186 pets had been rescued in Harris County in recent days.
Active rescues stopped Monday and officials were moving from a response phase to recovery and cleanup mode, he said.
While many of the affected neighborhoods and subdivisions along the San Jacinto River in Harris County were accessible Monday, others remained isolated by flooded roads.
Authorities were still assessing how many homes were damaged.
“We are a resilient community. I know we will continue to bounce back from this,” said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
At least five school districts around the Houston area were closed Monday due to flooding.
Houston is one of the most flood-prone metropolitan areas in the country. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey caused historic rainfall that flooded thousands of homes and led to more than 60,000 rescues.
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