Downpours ease around Houston, flooding persists after hundreds of rescues

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HOUSTON (AP) — Flooding closed some Texas schools Monday after days of heavy rain in the Houston area prompted hundreds of rescues, including some from home rooftops.

A five-year-old boy died after the car he was traveling in was swept away by water, according to authorities.

Although forecasters expected the storms to begin to recede in Southeast Texas, flooding kept some roads closed and residents faced lengthy cleanup efforts in neighborhoods where high water forced evacuation orders to be issued over the weekend.

Houston is one of the most flood-prone metropolitan areas in the United States. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey brought historic rainfall that flooded thousands of homes and led to more than 60,000 rescues.

In a flooded area of ​​Houston, Channelview school officials canceled classes and said a survey of their employees found that many had suffered circumstances that would have prevented them from coming to work.

“These people have suffered a lot,” Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace said in a Facebook Live broadcast as he toured a flooded rural neighborhood by boat. Cars and partially submerged traffic signs poked out of the water around them.

Areas such as Lake Livingston, northwest of Houston, received more than 23 inches (58 centimeters) of water in the last week, according to National Weather Service expert Jimmy Fowler.

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 trapped in a torrent near the community of Lilian shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday. , according to an official.

The child and two adults were trying to reach a dry area when they were swept away. The adults were rescued around 5 a.m. and taken to the hospital, while the child was found dead in the water around 7:20 a.m., according to a social media post from the director of emergency management. of Johnson County, Jamie Moore.

In some places between central Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, storms dumped 9 inches (23 cm) of water in six to eight hours, NWS meteorologist Matt Stalley said.

Since last week, storms have forced numerous water rescues in the Houston area, sometimes to get people off the roofs of flooded homes.

Greg Moss, 68, stayed in his motorhome Sunday after leaving his home in the eastern Harris County town of Channelview, near the San Jacinto River. The day before he packed up many of his belongings and left before the road to his house flooded.

“I would have been isolated for four days,” Moss said. “At least now I can go buy something to eat.”

Moss took his belongings and his vehicle to a neighbor’s house, where he planned to stay until the waters receded. The floodwaters had already gone down a few feet (centimeters) and he wasn’t worried about his house flooding because it was 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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