(240503) — TEXAS, May 3, 2024 (Xinhua) — A car is seen in floodwaters in a residential area in Spring, Texas, the United States, May 2, 2024. Multiple rounds of thunderstorms are worsening flooding threats on Thursday across eastern Texas, including the Houston area, forcing evacuations and school closures. (Photo by Chengyue Lao/Xinhua) (Photo by Xinhua/Sipa USA)
Xinhua/Sipa USA
A 4-year-old boy died Sunday in Johnson County, Texas, authorities said, after being swept away by floodwaters caused by heavy rains that have pounded parts of the state over the past few days.
His body was found southeast of Fort Worth before 8 a.m., several hours after authorities received a 911 call reporting that two adults and the boy were stuck in a vehicle in fast-moving water, Johnson County’s Office of Emergency Management said on Facebook.
All three tried to get out of the vehicle and were swept into the floodwaters, but the adults survived, the agency said.
The boy, whom authorities identified as Lucas N. Warren, was just weeks from his 5th birthday, according to the death records. Local authorities had previously given his age as 5.
The death comes as rounds of storms have prompted evacuations and rescues in the state, with forecasters warning of potential flash flooding. The storms exacerbated dangerous conditions and forecasters said that once the storms passed, rivers could be swollen for days or even weeks.
Parts of southeast Texas were under a flood warning Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service in Houston. Other areas remained under flood watches, and up to 8 inches of rain were possible in some areas through Sunday, forecasters said.
Heavy rainfall was expected to taper by Sunday evening, the weather service said. Forecasters said that because of the recent rounds of rainfall, flooding could occur earlier than would be expected in ordinary conditions.
The Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said that as of 10 a.m. Sunday, there had been 233 rescues of people and 164 pet rescues in the county.
There remained a risk of flash flooding from central to northeastern Texas, the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center said Sunday afternoon.
Jeremy Justice, hydrological operations manager at Harris County Flood Control District, said Saturday that some parts of Harris County could experience flooding near the record levels that were set during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, an event that claimed at least 68 lives and caused $125 billion in damage.
Several rivers in Texas had yet to reach their highest flows Sunday morning but were expected to crest in the next 24 hours, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. After cresting, the rivers’ recession would be slow, leaving the waterways above the major flooding stage through the middle of the week.
Eleven rivers were in a major flooding stage Sunday morning, which means the flooding had caused an 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.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Copyright 2024
This story was originally published May 5, 2024, 8:49 PM.