Texas flood sweeps away Army truck, leaving 5 dead
The Associated Press | Posted: June 2, 2016 11:15 PM | Last Updated: June 3, 2016
4 are still missing, while 3 others were rescued and are in stable condition
Five soldiers were killed and four were missing after an Army troop carrier was washed from a low-water crossing and overturned Thursday in a rain-swollen creek at Fort Hood, the Texas Army post said.
Three soldiers were found dead shortly after the 2 ½-ton truck was toppled by the swift current of Owl Creek during a morning training exercise. Two more bodies were found late Thursday night, according to a Fort Hood statement. Three soldiers were rescued and were hospitalized in stable condition.
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No further details were provided in the statement, but spokesman Chris Haug said the search continued for the four soldiers who remain missing. Army officials planned a briefing early Friday to provide an update on the search.
Aerial and ground crews searched the 30-kilometre creek that winds through heavily wooded terrain on the northern fringe of the 880-square-kilometre Army base. Army aircraft, canine search teams, swift-water rescue watercraft and heavy trucks were being used.
The Army did not release the names of the dead because it was still notifying relatives.
Defence secretary expresses condolences
U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter says the military will attempt to learn from the loss of life in the incident in Texas, and another one Thursday involving a Blue Angels fighter jet in Tennessee — since both involved safety issues in training.
Speaking in Singapore, where he was conferring Friday with his Singaporean counterpart on Southeast Asian security issues, Carter expressed condolences to the families of those killed.
Carter said that because both incidents involved safety issues during training, the military will take actions designed to prevent such accidents once military investigations are completed.
Parts of Texas have been inundated with rain in the last week, and more than half of the state is under flood watches or warnings, including the counties near Fort Hood. At least six people died in floods last week in Central and Southeast Texas.
Fort Hood spokesman John Miller said the crossing was flooded by two days of intermittent heavy rains when the swift water swept the truck, called a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle, from the road. The vehicle resembles a flatbed truck with a walled bed and is used to carry troops.
Fort Hood has seen six to eight centimetres of rain from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon according to radar estimates, said National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Talley in Fort Worth.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement saying the state "stands ready to provide any assistance to Fort Hood as they deal with this tragedy."
Across the state, many were watching a new batch of storms that could dump up to 25 centimetres of rain from Thursday through Saturday and worsen flooding caused by rivers and other waterways that already have risen to record levels.
A storm system that moved through the Houston area Wednesday night and Thursday morning dumped nearly 20 cm of rain in some of the city's northern suburbs, causing flooding in some neighbourhoods. In Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston, about 1,400 homes have been affected by the Brazos River, swollen by heavy rainfall from last week.
The river reached nearly 17 metres in Fort Bend County — 1.2 metres higher than the record set in 1994 — with water spilling into neighbourhoods that hadn't previously flooded. Officials say levels in the Brazos have not dropped much and additional rainfall could make the flooding worse.
"With the rain that's predicted, that's not going to help things as that water has no place to go," said Lt. Lowell Neinast, with the police department in Richmond, where more than 700 people have been evacuated.
Depending on how much rain falls, the Brazos could even rise to up to 56 feet (17m), said Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert.
Fort Bend County emergency management coordinator Jeff Braun said officials have worked to warn and prepare residents ahead of the additional rainfall.
Officials in Fort Bend were urging evacuated residents not to return home and noted that authorities have conducted nearly 560 water rescues since Sunday. Braun said it could be at least a week before the flooding recedes and residents can go home. More than 50 people are staying at shelters in Fort Bend County.
Fort Bend is one of the 31 counties included in a disaster declaration by Abbott.
This week's storms are the latest in a string of torrential rains since May 2015 that have put swaths of the state underwater. Some areas now overwhelmed by water had run dry two years ago due to drought conditions.
Other areas of Texas dealing with heavy rainfall include Bexar County, where San Antonio is located. Parts of that county got more than 4 inches of rain Wednesday and Thursday, causing more than 20 streets and roadways — including parts of Interstate 35 — in San Antonio to be temporarily shut down.
The rising Colorado River was expected to cause minor flooding in the coming days around Bastrop and La Grange, cities located southeast of Austin, according to the National Weather Service.