Child dies in flood, hundreds saved after storms lash Texas

Firefighter Cody Leroy carries a resident evacuated in a boat from her flooded home at Conroe north of Houston – Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP

Hundreds of people have been rescued from flooded homes and roads in the Houston area of southern Texas, where rainfsll continued into Sunday, while to the north in the Fort Worth area, a child has died after a car was caught in floodwaters.

In the past few days, storms have forced numerous high-water rescues in the Houston area, including some from the rooftops of flooded homes, the Associated Press reported.

In Johnson County, south of Fort Worth, a five-year-old boy died when he was swept away after the vehicle he was riding in became stuck in swift-moving water near the community of Lillian early on Sunday morning, an official said.

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

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

Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District, said on Sunday “things are improving slowly”.

Harris is the US’s third-largest county and includes Houston.

“We have water going down on our river systems,” Mr Lindner said. The San Jacinto River crested on Saturday, he said.

So far, Sunday’s additional rain did not seem to be causing any new flooding but he urged people to still be cautious, noting that many areas were still flooded.

Brittney Richell, left, and Vanessa Valdez, of the Red Cross, tag dog kennels after the animals were evacuated from flooded areas to a Red Cross shelter set up at Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic Church in The Woodlands, north of Houston – Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP

“We really need everybody to give it just another day before we feel comfortable that conditions are safe,” Mr Lindner said.

In the past week, areas near Lake Livingston, located northeast of Houston, received upwards of 23 inches of rain, National Weather Service meteorologist Jimmy Fowler said on Sunday.

Clouds over Houston on Sunday after days of storms – Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP

Scattered showers in the Houston area on Sunday brought light to moderate rainfall, he said. He said the rain would taper off in the evening, with no heavy rain events expected in the next week or so.

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

In Brazil, floods in southern Rio Grande do Sul state had killed at least 75 people in the past seven days, and another 103 were reported missing, local authorities said on Sunday.

At least 155 people were injured, while damage from the rains forced more than 88,000 people from their homes. Approximately 16,000 took refuge in schools, gymnasiums and other temporary shelters.

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