CNN
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On Sunday, the body of a boy was recovered from floodwaters near Fort Worth, Texas, as statewide search and rescue teams continued to patrol streets and neighborhoods flooded by rain.
The death was the first since the storms triggered disaster declarations for a third of the state’s counties.
Johnson County Emergency Management Coordinator Jamie Moore said the boy was found dead after authorities responded overnight to a vehicle stuck in fast-moving water. According to Moore, three residents escaped, but a 911 caller said they were swept away by floodwaters as they tried to get to safer ground.
Moore, who was involved in the search, said a man and a woman were rescued.
“I hope you keep this family in your prayers,” Moore told CNN.
Several days of rain have left rivers in the south overflowing Homes and businesses were flooded And thousands of people were displaced.
At least 224 people were rescued from homes and vehicles in Harris County, an official said Saturday night, with evacuation orders and flood watches in place as the state was already hit by heavy rains Sunday. Houston area flooded. No deaths or serious injuries were reported in the area, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told CNN, adding that 153 pets were rescued during the flooding.
“It’s very sad to see the impact on people’s livelihoods, homes, infrastructure and public infrastructure,” Hidalgo told CNN on Saturday.
“We’re actually asking everyone to give it a minute before they go home.”
Again Oyekanmi/AP
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials used boats to rescue residents from flooding.
CNN’s Rosa Flores rode a boat Sunday with rescuers from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and said the craft went over fences and mailboxes. Stop signs were at eye level.
In some areas, the water receded on Sunday, but was still high.
First responders took CNN to an area where the banks of the San Jacinto River were unknown.
“It’s very difficult to tell where the river ends,” Lt. David Jasper said.
Brent Taylor, chief communications officer for the Houston Office of Emergency Management, told CNN’s Amara Walker that many people in Houston were evacuated ahead of the severe weather.
“We have Houston police and Houston firefighters who are patrolling these neighborhoods near the river, and the water has gotten really high,” Taylor said. “Hey, I’m stuck here!” There are times when someone screams for help.”
“We have high water rescue vehicles. We have jet skis, we have airboats. Our Houston Department of Public Works has dump trucks loaded to move people through those high waters, so it’s really a coordinated effort to make sure these Houstonians are safe,” he added.
Not everyone wanted to leave their homes, Harris County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Darrell Bailey told CNN’s crew as they rode by.
“They have a lot of people in that area who don’t want to leave because they don’t have a place to go and they don’t want to go to a shelter,” he said.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website West Gulf River Forecast Center Eight river gauges in Texas are in major flood stage, 21 are in moderate flood stage, and 38 are in minor flood stage.
Most of the weekend’s rain fell in West and Central Texas, but the Houston area is expected to receive more heavy rain on Sunday.
National Weather Service office in Houston Published in X At 1:30 pm CT, “The next round of storms has arrived and continues to train along the I-10 corridor.”
Jackson, Wharton and Colorado counties were under one Severe Thunderstorm Watch Storm activity is expected to subside by 7pm today.
Earlier, the office said 1 to 3 inches of rain could fall through Monday morning. Some areas could see 4 to 8 inches.
“Several rounds of heavy rain over the past week may result in earlier flooding than expected under normal conditions. Today’s rain will further increase existing river flooding,” the Houston Weather Service office warned.
Rainfall has been high in the region over the past week, with some areas receiving two months’ worth of rain in five days. The weather service lists some of the rain totals it collected:
- Groveton, TX- 23.56”
- Huntsville, TX- 21.76”
- Splendora, TX- 21.01”
- Willis, TX- 20.75”
- Livingston, TX- 18.42”
However, there is relief on the horizon. The forecast for the rest of the week in Houston calls for dry weather and warm temperatures Monday through Saturday, with plenty of sunshine helping the region dry out.
This week’s storms are the latest in a string of brutal weather events to hit the state since early April. Dozens of hurricanes have struck from the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast, softball-sized hail in parts of the state and months of rain in East Texas that have raised rivers to levels not seen since the disaster. flood Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Jason Vogtman/Houston Chronicle/AP
The bridge over Lake Houston on the West Lake Houston Parkway from Kingwood to Atascocita is closed due to high water Saturday in Kingwood, Texas.
There are mandatory evacuations in the Houston area and surrounding counties as local officials compare it to past disasters. The flooding was “85% worse than Hurricane Harvey,” Emmitt Eldridge, emergency management coordinator for San Jacinto County, told CNN. “This is a historic flood for Walker County. We’ve had more flooding from this event than we did during Hurricane Harvey,” said Sherry Bekoda, Walker County’s deputy emergency management coordinator.
A mandatory evacuation order remains in effect for low-lying areas of Polk County through Sunday evening, emergency managers said in a statement. Facebook registrationHomes on rivers in Harris and Montgomery counties.
Disaster declarations are active for a third of Texas counties, after Gov. Greg Abbott expanded storm-related declarations in response to flooding, according to a news release. Additional counties may be added in the coming days, especially as more storms are in the forecast.
