At least 16 killed in southern US flooding

Prisons have been evacuated and at least 16 people have died after the US state of Texas was hit by torrential rain and flooding.

Houses sit in flooded lake waters at Lake Cisco, Friday, June 3, 2016, west of Cisco, Texas

Houses sit in flooded lake waters at Lake Cisco, Friday, June 3, 2016, west of Cisco, Texas Source: AAP

Torrential rains in Texas have deluged hundreds of homes, led to prison evacuations and killed at least 16 people in the past week, US officials say.

The fatalities on Friday included four soldiers who went missing when their vehicle overturned in flood waters.

The bodies of five other soldiers were found a day earlier, bringing the death toll to nine after their military vehicle flipped over in a flood-swollen creek on Thursday at Fort Hood Army post in central Texas.

Three survivors were released from a hospital on Friday, Major General John Uberti told a news conference.

"This tragedy extends well beyond Fort Hood and the outpouring of support from around the country is sincerely appreciated," he said.

The vehicle overturned at a low-water crossing, and military officials have not said why the convoy was training near a swollen waterway.

The sprawling army post, covering an area about 15 times larger than Manhattan, was closing flood-hit roads when the accident took place.

One more flood-related death in the state was likely, San Antonio police said on Friday, after recovering the body of a man caught in metal bars at a river drainage.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice began moving about 1700 inmates out of its Ramsey Unit in Rosharon due to flooding along the Brazos River.

It relocated about 2600 inmates from two other facilities this week due to flooding on the same river.

The National Weather Service has placed large parts of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi on a flash flood watch.

Parts of Texas have had record rain for May, including Brenham, northwest of Houston, which received 74.9 cm, it said.

Heavy rains are forecast to hit Houston and eastern Texas through the weekend, likely causing more flooding, it said.


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
At least 16 killed in southern US flooding | SBS News