As storms move through Texas, a child dies after being swept away by floodwaters

HOUSTON– Thunderstorms in Texas brought additional rain on Sunday to the already saturated Houston area, where hundreds of people were rescued from flooded homes and roads, while to the north, in the Fort Worth area, a child died after being swept away by the car he was traveling in. got stuck in the floods.

Over the past week, areas near Lake Livingston, located northeast of Houston, have received more than 20 inches of rain, National Weather Service meteorologist Jimmy Fowler said Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, he said, areas in northeastern Harris County, the nation’s third-largest county that includes Houston, have seen a range of 15 centimeters (6 inches) to nearly 43 centimeters (17 inches) of rain over the same period.

Scattered showers in the Houston area on Sunday brought light to moderate rain, he said.

“With the rain that fell overnight and this morning, it just prolonged the river flooding that we were experiencing,” Fowler said.

He said the rain would gradually ease in the evening, with no heavy rain expected over the next week or so.

In Johnson County, located south of Fort Worth, a 5-year-old boy died when he was swept away after the vehicle he was traveling in became stuck in rough waters near the community of Lillian shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, an official said.

The child and two adults were trying to get to dry ground when they were swept away, Johnson County Emergency Management Director Jamie Moore wrote in a Facebook post.

The two adults were rescued around 5 a.m. and taken to a hospital, while the child was found dead around 7:20 a.m. in the water, Moore said.

Storms brought 9 inches of rain in a six- to eight-hour period in some areas from central Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth area overnight, said National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Stalley. He said the rains washed out some roads west of Waco.

In recent days, storms have forced several high-water rescues in the Houston area, including some from the roofs of flooded homes.

Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District, said Sunday afternoon that “things are slowly getting better.”

“We have water falling into our river systems,” Lindner said. The San Jacinto River crested Saturday, with its east and west forks and main stem below Lake Houston falling from 1 foot (0.30 meters) to 3 feet (0.91 meters) overnight. he said.

Lindner said so far Sunday’s additional rain does not appear to be causing new flooding. He urged people to be cautious, noting that many areas are still flooded.

“We really need everyone to wait just one more day before we feel comfortable that conditions are safe,” Lindner said.

Greg Moss, 68, was in his recreational vehicle Sunday after leaving his home in the Channelview community in eastern Harris County near the San Jacinto River. On Saturday, he packed many of his belongings and left before the road to his house was flooded.

“I would be locked up for four days,” Moss said. “So now at least I can go get something to eat.”

Moss moved his belongings and vehicle to a neighbor’s house, where he planned to stay until the waters receded. He said Sunday that flood waters had already receded a few feet and that he was not worried about his home flooding because it is located on higher ground.

“It’s okay to go there in the morning,” he said.

Houston is one of the most flood-prone metropolitan areas in the country. The city of more than 2 million people has long experience dealing with devastating weather.

Hurricane Harvey in 2017 dumped historic rains that flooded thousands of homes and resulted in more than 60,000 rescues by government workers across Harris County.

The Houston metropolitan area covers about 25,900 square kilometers (10,000 square miles), an area slightly larger than New Jersey. It is crossed by about 2,700 kilometers of canals, streams and streams that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, about 80 kilometers southeast of the city center.

The system of streams and reservoirs was built to drain heavy rains, but engineering initially designed nearly 100 years ago has struggled to keep up with the city’s growth and larger storms.

___

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from several private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters, and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

___

Stengle contributed to this report from Dallas. Associated Press reporter Juan A. Lozano also contributed to this report.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano on X, formerly Twitter: