(Houston) Floodwaters forced the closure of some Texas schools Monday, after days of heavy rain pounded the Houston area and led to hundreds of rescues, including of people stranded on roofs.
A 5-year-old boy died after getting into a car swept away by fast-moving water, authorities said.
Although forecasters expect storms to begin to subside in Southeast Texas, high waters continued to close some roads and left residents facing lengthy cleanups in neighborhoods where rising waters River levels led to evacuation orders over the weekend.
Houston is one of the nation’s most flood-prone metropolitan areas. In 2017, the hurricane Harvey dumped historic rainfall that flooded thousands of homes and led to more than 60,000 rescues.
In a soggy area of Houston, Channelview school officials canceled classes and said a survey of their employees found many had experienced circumstances that would prevent them from coming to work .
PHOTO BRETT COOMER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The storms brought nearly 10 inches of rain in a span of six to eight hours to some areas from central Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Areas near Lake Livingston, located northeast of Houston, received about 60 centimeters of rain over the past week, said Jimmy Fowler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
In Johnson County, south of Fort Worth, a 5-year-old boy died after being swept away by the current when the vehicle he was in became stuck in rushing water near the town of Lillian , shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, an official said.
The child and two adults were trying to reach dry land when they were swept away by the waters. The adults were rescued around 5 a.m. and taken to a hospital, while the child was found dead in the water around 7:20 a.m., wrote Jamie Moore, Johnson County emergency management director , in a message published on social networks.
The storms brought nearly 10 inches of rain in a span of six to eight hours to some areas from central Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, said Matt Stalley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Since last week, storms have forced numerous rescues in the Houston area, some from the roofs of flooded homes.