Floodwaters in the Houston area began to recede on Monday as residents returned to their homes and began taking stock of the damage after days of heavy rain pounded the region and led to hundreds of rescues, including those stranded on rooftops.
Officials in Harris County, where Houston is located, said there were no deaths or serious injuries as a result of the flooding. But in North Texas, authorities said a 4-year-old boy in a car swept away by rapids has died.
Heavy rains in Texas prompt water rescues, school closures and evacuation orders
After several days of heavy rain in the Houston area and other parts of Southeast Texas, Monday’s forecast called for mainly sunshine with a slight chance of showers.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s top elected official, told reporters Monday that there is “absolutely light at the end of the tunnel and we are through the worst of this weather event.” .
A mailbox was partially submerged on a flooded road in unincorporated eastern Harris County near Houston on Sunday morning, May 5, 2024. Heavy rains earlier this week caused the nearby San Jacinto River to overflow, causing flooding. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)
More than 23 inches (58 centimeters) of rain has fallen in the area northeast of Houston near Lake Livingston over the past week, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jimmy Fowler. Areas in northeastern Harris County, the third largest county in the United States, received rain ranging from 6 inches (15 centimeters) to nearly 17 inches (43 centimeters) during the same period.
Hidalgo announced that 233 people and 186 pets have been rescued in Harris County over the past few days. Active rescue operations were halted on Monday, and authorities are moving from the response phase to recovery and cleanup mode, she said.
Many affected areas and subdivisions along the San Jacinto River in Harris County were open to traffic on Monday, but other areas remained cut off by flooded roads.
Authorities are still assessing the number of damaged homes.
“We are a resilient community and we will continue to bounce back from this,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
At least five school districts around Houston were closed Monday due to flooding.
Houston is one of the most flood-prone metropolitan areas in the country. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 brought historic rainfall, flooding thousands of homes and requiring more than 60,000 people to be rescued.
Most of Houston was unaffected by last week’s rains, with the exception of the Kingwood neighborhood, where some homes and roads were flooded.
Various counties and communities north and east of the Houston area also continued to recover Monday.
“Guys, these people are in so much pain,” Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace said on a Facebook livestream Sunday while riding a boat through flooded areas of the countryside. All around him were partially submerged cars and road signs.
In Johnson County, south of Fort Worth, a 4-year-old boy was swept away and killed when his car became submerged in rushing water just before 2 a.m. Sunday near the hamlet of Lillian, officials said. . The Tarrant County Coroner’s Office said the cause of death for the child, who would have turned 5 later this month, was drowning.
National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Staley said the storm dumped 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain in six to eight hours in parts of central Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
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Greg Moss, 68, remained in his RV Sunday after leaving his home in the eastern Harris County community of Channelview near the San Jacinto River. The day before, he packed up many of his belongings and left before the road to his home was flooded.
“We’re going to be stranded for four days,” Moss said. “Now at least we can go get something to eat.”
