HOUSTON– Flooding closed some Texas schools on Monday after days of heavy rain battered the Houston area and led to hundreds of rescues, including people who were on rooftops.
A 5-year-old boy died after riding in a car that was swept away by turbulent waters, authorities said.
Although forecasters expected the storms to begin to abate in southeast Texas, floodwaters continued to close some roads and left residents facing long cleanups in neighborhoods where rising river levels led to evacuation orders over the weekend.
Houston is one of the most flood-prone metropolitan areas in the country. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 dumped historic rains that flooded thousands of homes and resulted in more than 60,000 rescues.
In a soggy area of Houston, school officials at Channelview canceled classes and said a survey of their employees found that many of them had experienced circumstances that would prevent them from going to work.
“These people suffered greatly,” Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace said Sunday during a Facebook Live broadcast as he rode a boat through a flooded rural neighborhood.
Areas near Lake Livingston, located northeast of Houston, received more than 20 inches of rain last week, National Weather Service meteorologist Jimmy Fowler said.
In Johnson County, 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. The 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, Johnson County Emergency Management Director Jamie Moore wrote in a social media post.
The storms brought 9 inches of rain over a six- to eight-hour period in some areas from central Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Stalley said.
Since last week, storms have forced several high-water rescues in the Houston area, including some from the roofs of flooded homes.
Greg Moss, 68, remained in his recreational vehicle Sunday after leaving his home in the Channelview community in eastern Harris County near the San Jacinto River. A day earlier, he had packed up many of his belongings and left before the road to his home 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. Flood waters had already receded a few feet and he was not worried about his home being flooded because it is located on higher ground, Moss said Sunday.
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Stengle reported from Dallas and Associated Press reporter Juan A. Lozano contributed to this report.
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