Houston: A four-year-old boy lost his life after being swept away by floodwaters in Johnson County, Texas on Sunday as per the authorities. The floodwaters have been caused by intense rainfall in the state for the past few days.
Johnson County’s Office of Emergency Management on Facebook said that the boy’s body was recovered southeast of Fort Worth before 8 am, several hours after the authorities received a 911 call reporting that two adults and a boy were stuck in a vehicle in fast-moving water. As per the agency, all three people tried to get out of the vehicle and were swept away by the floodwaters but the adults survived.
The boy has been identified as Lucas N. Warren by the authorities. As per the death records, he was just weeks away from his 5th birthday. Local authorities had previously said that he was 5 years old. The death of Lucas comes as rounds of storms have prompted rescue and evacuations in the state, with the forecasters giving a warning of a potential flash flooding. These storms bring in dangerous conditions and as per the forecasters once the storm is passed the rivers could remain swollen for days and even weeks.
Parts of Southern Texas were under a warning of floods on Sunday afternoon as per the National Weather Service in Houston. The other areas remained under flood watches and as per the forecasters up to 8 inches of rain were possible in some areas in the region throughout Sunday. The Weather Service said that heavy rainfall was expected to taper by Sunday evening. Forecasters said that because of the recent rounds of rainfall, flooding could occur earlier than would be expected in ordinary conditions.
As of 10 a.m. on Sunday, the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management reported that 233 persons and 164 pets had been rescued around the county. The Weather Services Weather Prediction Centre on Sunday afternoon said that there is a risk of flash flooding from Central to Northeastern Texas.
The Harris County Flood Control District’s hydrological operations manager, Jeremy Justice, stated on Saturday that certain areas of the county may see flooding that approaches the record levels set by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which left at least 68 people dead and caused $125 billion in damage.
Eleven rivers were in a major flooding stage on Sunday morning, which means that the flooding has caused excessive inundation of roads and structures and required significant evacuations. Another 18 rivers were experiencing moderate flooding, which can inundate some structures and may lead to evacuations.
